Chapter 65
Harry stumbled into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and found his father eating a late breakfast by himself.
"What are you doing home so early again?" asked James.
"Robards is planning so many raids these days because of the end of the war. It seems like every raid leads to five more possible raids. The department doesn't have a planning room anymore so they use the training rooms to plan their raids, which means that training gets cancelled for the rest of the day. I just wish they'd let us work with them. Even for just the planning sessions. At least we'd be learning something useful," Harry complained. Kreacher set a plate with waffles and strawberries in front of him. Harry thanked him as he dug in to the food with gusto.
"Well, I guess that we can finish cleaning out Godric's Hollow today if you'd like. Your mum and Sirius left for work a few hours ago. I don't know if Hermione is still here or not, but she's welcome to join us if she would like," James said. Harry nodded and continued eating. When the two were finished eating Harry went to find Hermione.
Her room and the Drawing Room were empty, so he returned down to the entryway.
"She's not here," he said.
"Oh well," James said. The two left for Godric's Hollow, and after a while James asked, "What does Hermione do all day? Do you know where she goes?"
"I have no idea where she's been going. The last few days she's just disappeared and even Ron doesn't know where she goes. It wasn't like this a couple weeks ago. Even after you guys showed up I found her crying in her room about her parents a couple times. That's almost all she did before you guys arrived. She was utterly devastated about her parents rejecting her and then, Ron and I decided against going back to Hogwarts with her for our last year. The only time I've really seen her genuinely happy was when McG—er, Minerva told her she was going to be Head Girl. And that only lasted a couple hours before she went back to moping," Harry said with a frown.
The two had ventured down into the cellar of the house and were surveying the damage.
"She doesn't seem that bad," James said as he pushed a cardboard box with his toe.
"Oh, the last week or so I've definitely seen a vast improvement of her behaviour," Harry said. "But with that change she's also taken to disappearing all day long, either that or hiding in her room with books the size of a dinner table doing some sort of research."
The two men started slowly opening boxes, hoping no animals had moved in over the years. They found many boxes of books, out of date clothes, and junk. Once they'd moved past the boxes they found a small area with Muggle weight lifting equipment and a ragged, crumbling spell dummy.
Past a narrow door was a tiny, closet sized Potions lab. There was a rancid smell permeating the room and they could see a black cauldron with a giant hole in the bottom and a dried puddle of something spread in a circle around the damaged cauldron.
"Looks like Albus forgot to check this room during his inspection and securing of the house. In all the hurry that night Lily must have forgotten a potion was still brewing down here," James said after placing a Bubble-Head charm on himself. Harry had likewise placed the charm on himself and had moved into the room a bit.
"Good thing it wasn't something more caustic or explosive," he said with derision. He pulled a Muggle notebook over to him across the table and read a few lines of his mother's handwriting. "Looks like it was a Potion for relaxation," he said.
"Huh," James huffed. "She was having problems being cooped up in the house for an indefinite amount of time. Guess she had found a solution to her cabin fever. As for the caustic or explosiveness of the potions,Lily coated the floor with a neutralizing potion once a month just in case something like this happened. If a possibly harmful potion touched the floor it was instantly neutralized and safe."
They got rid of all the damaged equipment and spoiled ingredients and boxed up all the spare tools. Finally, they decided to Scourgify the floor as well before they were finished. Harry called Kreacher and the three moved all the boxes from the cellar and a few left over from the upstairs areas back to Grimmauld Place. By the time they were finished, the formal dining room was packed to the brim with boxes and wood furniture. James sat at the table to write a quick note to Gerald to let the man know the house was emptied to their satisfaction and the demolition could go forward at any time.
Harry ventured to the Drawing room where the sight before him made him laugh so hard he almost broke a rib. A golden haze surrounded Sirius, who had bright pink skin and neon green hair that was standing up as if being sucked toward the ceiling. He was sitting at the desk, clinging to it as if his life depended on it, a look of terror on his face and his wand stuck to the ceiling above him. He could hear Sirius muttering to himself as he waited for Harry to finish laughing.
"Okay, dearest godson, I think this prank has run its course. I can feel the blood rushing to my head to the point where I may pass out soon. Get me down from here!" shouted Sirius.
"Oh Merlin, hold on a sec," Harry said as he backed out of the room. "Dad! Get up here you gotta see this!" he shouted down the stairs. A moment later James arrived at the door to the room and took one look at Sirius before he was on the ground laughing.
"Oh ha, ha, so funny, now get me down!" Sirius yelled. It took them a few minutes before they were done laughing and able to tell Sirius to just move and the spell would end, but finally Sirius was able to let go and the world apparently righted itself sufficiently enough for him to chase Harry out of the room and down a couple flights of stairs. The chase ended when Harry was able to make it clear that he hadn't set the spells, someone else had pranked Sirius.
Sirius stalked off to plan a prank and try to remove the spells on him, while James went back the kitchen and Harry sat down in the Drawing room.
"Master?" said a voice from behind the sofa. Harry could see Kreacher's eyes popping up over the back of the sofa and he smiled.
"Kreacher was that prank yours?" he asked the elf.
"Yes, Master Harry. I is also changing all of old Master's clothes into women's frilly clothes and blocking his door from the outside sos he can't get out sometimes. Kreacher made old Master's tea cup always taste of pepper and onion when it's warmed up, and I is short sheeting old Master's bed," Kreacher said proudly, if not a little quietly since the door to the room was still open.
Harry chuckled to himself quietly. "Come sit with me Kreacher," he said finally. Kreacher crawled up onto the sofa with Harry and the two sat and talked for a little while. By the time they were finished Harry had a new idea, and Kreacher had several more things to do to Sirius. Harry made sure Kreacher understood that after Thursday he wasn't to prank Sirius anymore since the war would be over then and the elf conceded and agreed to not do anything more to his old master.
"Kreacher, what exactly did you do to Sirius' clothes? I haven't seen anything wrong with them?" he asked his elf.
"Kreacher's illusion failed and old Master was able to see all his clothes had changed, so he was able to cancel the spell before he left the room," replied the elf.
"Hmm," Harry thought to himself for a minute. "What illusion failed?" he asked.
"Kreacher placed an illusion on the clothes so only old Master would see his normal clothes while everyone else would see frilly woman clothes. But Kreacher's illusions are poor quality," he said hanging his bulbous head.
"It's okay Kreacher," Harry said. "Sometimes pranks fall through. No big deal. Have the other ones you've done frustrated him at least?" Harry asked.
"Oh yes, Master. Old Master has been most frustrated. He is unable to discover who has pranked him. He has also been very jumpy for a couple of days, Kreacher has noticed," said the elf puzzled.
"Jumpy how?" asked Harry suddenly, an evil smirk gracing his lips.
"Old Master will be alone and suddenly twirl around with his eyes wide and stare into corners for several minutes before he shakes his head and mentions the greasy haired man's name," said Kreacher.
"Yes!" Harry whooped. "Oh man, I've got to tell George and Ron. I can't believe that spell worked." He saw the look of confusion on the elf's face and explained. "We put a spell on Sirius so at random points during the day he'll think he sees Snape out of the corner of his eyes. Snape died a couple months ago, so Sirius probably thinks he's being haunted," Harry whispered. Kreacher smiled.
A minute later Sirius walked by muttering to himself. Harry held back a laugh and Sirius passed by the door on his way downstairs. Harry decided he was going to stop by the Burrow and see if Ginny was there. He wanted to wish her a Happy Birthday in person. He'd sent her an owl that morning, but he wanted to do it in person before the party that night.
He told his dad and Sirius he was leaving and he took off via Floo. When he arrived in the kitchen of the Burrow he found Molly covered in flour and the kitchen dusted white. The only colour he could find in the room was Molly's face as she shouted to the world about stringing whoever messed with her kitchen up by their toenails. Harry was able to slip by here with no notice only because she was partially turned away from him and away from the staircase.
He found Ginny and Ron on the first floor landing stifling their laughter and leaning on one another.
"What was that all about? Who in their right mind would prank your mum's kitchen?" he asked them with wide eyes.
"No clue," said Ron. "But it wasn't one of us in our group."
"I think it was Bill or Percy. I heard mum telling someone the other day about how I like to make dad and mum's favourite chocolate biscuits on my birthday as a thank you for whatever gift they get me. Whoever did that downstairs, must have been trying to get me. Problem is mum didn't happen to mention that I make those biscuits the day after my birthday," Ginny said with a giggle. They could hear Molly stomping around the kitchen cleaning and angrily muttering to herself, so they ventured into Ginny's room down the hall.
That's when Harry noticed a slight change in his girlfriend's appearance.
"Er, Ginny what happened to your…erm…" Harry said as he gestured in front of his chest.
"Chest?" Ginny supplied with a raised eyebrow. Harry gulped and nodded. Ron continued to laugh even harder.
"Someone decided that I wasn't endowed well enough and when I finished breakfast this morning these grew three sizes and a bow appeared," Ginny said with an angry look.
"There was even a note," said Ron. Ginny gave him a very dark look but he continued, "It said 'To Harry; From the Old Farts'," Ron howled. Harry's jaw dropped and his eyes widened.
"If I see so much as smirk on your face Harry James Potter, I swear, you will wish for death," Ginny said menacingly. Harry gulped again and forced down his laughter. Ron continued to titter to himself.
"Er, who do you think this one was from?" Harry asked Ginny.
"Bill would be my guess. Percy would find this too crass and improper, dad I just can't see doing that note, James I don't know so well, but Sirius is also a possibility. Though if I had to choose I'd say Bill, its right up his alley," she said. Harry was trying not to stare, but she had crossed her arms which had propped up her chest fairly high which made them very obvious.
"Mate! Stop ogling my sister!" Ron said after a minute. Harry raised his arms up.
"I can't help it they're right there," he said quickly. Ginny rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
The three sat talking, and in Harry's case avoiding looking at Ginny, for a short while.
"Do you guys know where Hermione's been running off to?" asked Harry.
"She told me she didn't want to intrude on you and your parents getting to know one another. She's been spending a bit of time here, but other than that, no I don't know," said Ginny.
"I asked her the other day and she wouldn't tell me what she's been doing. All I know is it has something to do with research and lots of planning. She's also been having nightmares about her parents," Ron said. "But I don't know if I was supposed to tell you guys that," he added as an afterthought.
"Poor Hermione. Have you thought of anything to do about her parents?" asked Ginny.
"She told us to stay out of it. I really don't know what we can do to help. She won't tell us what happened," said Harry. Ron squirmed for a moment before he got up and closed the door and placed a few privacy charms.
"Okay, I know I shouldn't tell you two this, but I think you should know," Ron started. "Her parents told her they'd accept her apology if she gave up magic for a few years and went to Uni. They want her to live with them and act like a Muggle so they can all get to know each other again. Hermione told them she could never give up magic or stop seeing us altogether, so they refused to talk to her until she agrees. They said that the last several years they've felt as if Hermione wasn't their daughter anymore. They don't know her anymore and they want to get to know her again, but since she always spends so much time with all of us, they think the only way they can do that is if Hermione leaves the Wizarding world."
"That's so unfair of them!" Ginny exclaimed. Ron nodded his head.
"I don't know. I can kind of see why they'd ask that. Not that I agree it's fair, because it isn't, but I can see why. Think about it like this, Hermione has spent how many Christmas and Easter holidays with us? She usually went home for a couple weeks every summer but several times she was already here visiting you guys before I even got to leave the Dursleys. Not to mention her parents had an office to run while she was home, so she's probably only spent a couple weeks, at most, varied over the last several years with her parents. She's also an only child. I can see that they miss her and she misses them," Harry said.
"But to ask her to leave this world behind completely? To abandon her friends and boyfriend, the people she's come to love in this world, and leave behind everything she's striven towards for the last seven years?" asked Ginny.
"Yes, that's going too far. I agree with you on that, I just can't agree that just giving up on her parents is something Hermione should do. I can see how much she's hurt from all this, and I'm worried about her," said Harry.
"I am too, mate. She's not herself lately," said Ron.
They sat in contemplative silence for several minutes before Ginny stood up and stretched. Harry's eyes nearly bugged out of his head before he forced himself to look down at his hands.
"I think it's high time we pranked the other team now. Hermione's problem isn't going anywhere and I don't think it's fair that we're talking about her when she's isn't here. I have a couple ideas, who's ready?" Ginny said with a grin.
"I'm in," said Ron. Harry just grinned and nodded his head, keeping his eyes pointed elsewhere.
"Okay Ron, George has a box at the shop filled with alarm clocks. We figured Percy won't be home for another couple hours. Go to the shop and get the box from George. He might want to help, so make sure he tells you if he's coming with you or not before you leave. Go to Percy's flat and hide the alarm clocks with Anti-Summoning and Disillusionment charms, and make sure they're all set to go off thirty to sixty minutes apart all night," Ginny said. Ron chuckled.
"Maybe even add a Sonorus to a few," Harry added.
"Oh that's good, classic," he said. "What are you and Harry going to do?"
"We're going to take a quick trip to Shell Cottage. Bill has pranked me several times this weekend and this," she pointed to her chest, "Has gone too far. It's my birthday; he didn't have to do this to me today. So…he's going down." Harry grinned at Ron.
"Well let's go then!" he said.
"You think mum's still upset about the flour?" Ron asked as they headed out the door.
"More than likely she is, but she probably won't yell at us. Let's not say we're going out to pull more pranks though, just in case," said Ginny.
When they arrived in the kitchen, the still-fuming Molly told them to sit and she plopped a platter of sandwiches in front of them and said, "Eat," before walking away. A quick lunch later the three were allowed to leave.
Ginny could now legally do magic, but she hadn't taken her Apparition test yet though, so Harry wrapped his arm around her waist and they Side-Apparated to Bill and Fleur's house. They appeared in the sand on the beach and they stood looking out at the ocean for a few minutes.
"I should visit Dobby while we're here," Harry said sadly. Ginny took his hand and they walked over to the flowery site of Dobby's grave. Harry talked about the little elf for a few minutes, telling Ginny stories of Dobby's misguided, but touching, heroism in his and Ron's second year. Ginny had only heard the stories a few days before but she listened and chuckled at the right moments for Harry's sake. She waved her wand and created a wreath of brightly coloured socks and Harry, who had been tearing up, barked out a laugh. They took a branch and shoved it down into the sand and hung the wreath off it right above the gravestone Harry had made.
After that the two trudged through the sand up to the cottage. Ginny knocked and Fleur opened the door a moment later.
"Ginny! Harry! What a surprise! Come in, please," she said, holding the door wide. "Do you need anything?"
"Well someone, we're not sure who, pranked mum's flour pot, so I'm going to need some flour for some biscuits I want to make tomorrow. I was wondering if I could borrow some," Ginny said. "Um, also, I was wondering if I could get your help adjusting this bra. I don't think I did it right," she added quickly, a blush creeping up her neck.
Fleur laughed and agreed. The two girls went upstairs and left Harry by himself. He knew that this was the moment to prank Bill's soap, so he wandered to the bathroom and found the musky men's soap and did the same spell Hermione had used on the toothpaste a few days before. Harry noticed that almost all the soaps in the shower were either plain bottles or fancy, French, floral bottles. A new idea popped into his head and he grabbed the bottle of shampoo that was obviously Bill's and spelled that as well. He left the bathroom and as he was crossing the hallway to the living room he passed the main bedroom and could see clothes laid out on the bed. He looked around and could hear Ginny talking from the floor above so he quickly entered the bedroom and waved his wand over the men's clothes on the bed thanking Kreacher for the idea he'd just had.
Several minutes later Ginny and Fleur came back downstairs and Harry nearly fell off the sofa. If he'd thought Ginny's chest was amazing before, it was glorious now. Apparently not being able to adjust a bra correctly meant something very different to a woman, because the newly adjusted one fit one hundred times better and pushed them up and together in all the right places. The skimpy tank top Ginny was wearing now definitely wasn't helping matters either.
"I told you he'd like it," Fleur said with a giggle. Ginny blushed all the way down to her knees.
"Harry, stop staring like that," she said with a roll of her eyes. She couldn't help the pleased smile that graced her lips though. He forced his eyes away and looked into her eyes. He smiled and winked as he took her hand and led her to the kitchen where they sat and chatted with Fleur for a while. He explained to Fleur what he'd done with the shampoo and soap bottles to make sure she understood not to use them and she rolled her eyes but chuckled along with them.
Finally, Fleur handed Ginny a bag of flour and the two walked back down the beach where they were going to Apparate from. Before they left though, Harry leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Happy birthday, love." He pulled a white envelope from his pocket and handed it to her. "You'll get the other part in front of everyone tonight at your party, but I wanted to give this to you in private."
She squealed and threw the bag of flour at him as she took the gift from him. She ripped it open and pulled out a card. She gave him a curious look and opened it. Two tickets fell out into her hand. They read Costal UK Cruise. She gave him a questioning look and he smiled.
"For you and I to take a four day, three night cruise around the country, stopping off in France, Belgium, and Germany along the way. It leaves on the twenty-first," he said. Her wide-eye-and-dropped-jaw look made Harry's insides warm with happiness. Finally, she squealed loudly and flung her arms around his neck, wrapping her arms around his waist. He spun her around and laughed.
"I'm glad you like it," he said softly when he put her down.
"Thank you Harry, this is brilliant," she said. She kissed him on the cheek, then the lips.
Several minutes went by before the two were ready to leave again. Hair slightly dishevelled, clothes askew, and lips red, they decided to put their snog session on hold and head back to the Burrow.
Ron had not returned yet so they tried to help Molly out in the kitchen, but the motherly matron refused to let Ginny help on her birthday so she shooed the two outside. They wandered down to the pond and Harry leaned against the willow tree. Ginny leaned against him and they watched the breeze ruffle the long, trailing willow branches.
"I wish you were coming back to Hogwarts with us," Ginny said softly.
"I do too. But I have to be responsible. I have a duty to do and it's something I want to do. Besides, I don't think Hogwarts will be the same for me. All I'll be able to see around every corner are Dumbledore's betrayals," he said.
"That and Sirius will be there. Put you two in the same building for ten months and it probably won't be standing by the end," Ginny giggled, lightening the mood.
"Firsties would cower under their beds;Peeves wouldn't know what to do, and Minerva? She'd probably kill one of us…" Harry chuckled.
The two sat for a couple hours talking about the future, what to do on their trip, and thinking up new pranks to play. Harry let her know how he'd asked her parents for permission to take their daughter on the cruise with him a couple weeks earlier and, how after a long talk with Arthur about his intentions, the two had finally agreed. Eventually Ron showed up and sat with them.
"Hey mate, I was wondering when is the next lunch meeting you have with Dudley?" Ron asked.
"Actually it's coming up this weekend. Dudley said in his last letter that he's got a surprise for me. I'm guessing my surprise is gonna be bigger," Harry laughed. "Why?" he asked.
"Oh, no real reason. George and I had to go out into Muggle London to get to Percy's flat and it made me think about it," Ron said with a shrug. He threw a handful of grass at Ginny and most went down her cleavage. She shouted at him while digging down her shirt to grab it and Harry couldn't help but stare. When he saw Harry staring, Ron threw a clump of dirt at his friend as a clod of dirt hit him upside his head. Soon enough, the three with goofing around, throwing dirt clods and clumps of grass at each other.
After hanging out for another hour or so, the three grudgingly trekked back inside with the intent to help set up for the party. As they neared the front door, Harry glanced up at the score board and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Why's the board covered?" he asked. Ginny and Ron, who had stopped when he had, looked up with confusion. The Prank War score board was covered by a white sheet and had something written on it.
"'All groups involved agree that scores should be kept secret until the War is over',"Ron read aloud.
"Who in our group agreed to that?" asked Ginny.
They all heard the Floo ignite and Molly say hello to someone. They gave each other one last look before they walked inside just in time to see Molly and Arthur sharing a sweet kiss. Ron groaned while Ginny just smiled and took Harry's hand as they walked up to the table.
"Mum, is there anything we can do to help?" she asked.
"Hm? Oh not yet dears, it'll still be a short while before we need you," Molly replied. Arthur smiled and popped a turnip in his mouth as he exited the kitchen.
Up in Ginny's room the three sat and munched on crisps while they thought up new prank ideas. After a short while George joined them saying he had got Verity to watch the shop for the rest of the day. He shared some more ideas he'd had for pranks and they giggled and threw crisps at him when the ideas got too outrageous. They'd only been at it for twenty minutes when the door opened and Hermione stumbled into the room carrying a large box with a smaller box stacked on top. Ron jumped up and took them from her, setting them on the bed where she directed him. She flopped, in an un-Hermione like fashion onto a chair and sighed deeply.
"Can I ask you four for some help?" she finally said wearily.
"With what?" asked George.
Ginny rolled her eyes and, "Yes, we'll help you Hermione. What do you need?"
Hermione explained that Minerva has asked her to stuff and seal all the envelopes that were to go to the first and sixth years.
"I could have finished this on my own, but I feel like I've hardly seen any of you these last couple of weeks," she said. "It's really late for this to be happening, but since it's the first year we're doing a mentor program like this, it took a few weeks to perfect. Basically, every Sixth year is going to be assigned a First year to mentor through the year. We decided to set it all up before the Sorting to help promote Inter-House friendships. It's part of the New Hogwarts agenda Minerva, Harper, Flitwick and I have been setting up," Hermione said. She handed piles of envelopes to everyone, and then stacks of parchment letters. Everything was written and addressed already, it was just a matter of stuffing the envelopes with the letters. She showed them a nifty spell that Harry recognized as one used in the Ministry to stuff pamphlets with Undesirable Number One posters and they got underway. Harry scanned one of the letters and read:
Dear, Ms Greengrass,
This year, Hogwarts will be enacting a new regimen of Inter-House connectedness. One of the steps to House Unity we will be starting this year is the beginning of a Mentor Program. Every Sixth year student will be given the name and Owl Address of an incoming First year student. This student will be your Mentee and you their Mentor. All names have been chosen with regard to personality, interests, and behavioural traits to assure that all Mentor/Mentee pairings should work well together.
Astoria Greengrass, your First year Mentee's name is Rachael Sandstrom. She lives at 24 Willow Lane, London.
You will be required to spend some time getting to know this student before school begins. There are three steps you must accomplish before the 1st of September. The first step you must take is to send them a letter introducing yourself. Include information about what House you are in, some of your interests, and possibly speak about your family life outside of school. When they reply, you should answer any questions they may have. This relationship will last throughout the school year, so it's recommended you become friends with your Mentee.
The second part you are required to do is to meet with the First year and their family in Diagon Alley. This is imperative that you take this step if your Mentee is a Muggleborn student as they, and their family, will have no knowledge of the Alley and may need your help. Assist them with their shopping, or if they know the Alley well enough, simply keep them company and let them become acquainted with your presence.
The third and final step that needs to be finished on the first of September is to meet your Mentee at Kings Cross Station. If your First year student is a Muggleborn you should meet them on the Muggle side of the barrier and show them the way onto Platform 9 and 3/4. You will need to sit with your Mentee for the beginning of the train ride, introduce them to other students and help them make new friends. Every Sixth year student will have a First year partner, so perhaps you can find a compartment with your own friends and introduce the First years to each other in that setting.
Once your Mentee has been Sorted, you will be required to meet with them at least twice a week to talk, help with homework, or assist them in overcoming any homesickness they may experience. You should make yourself available to your Mentee at all times should they need you. The Head of Houses will be monitoring both Mentor and Mentee to make sure all guidelines are followed.
For any student who does not have access to an owl over the summer, simply tell the owl that brings this letter to you that you will require them for the next couple weeks. But be aware that should you need use of the owl provided, you will need to provide nourishment for the owl and a place to rest in between letters. Any owl that is neglected will return to the school and I will be notified. Any student who is found to have neglected their Post Owl will be punished in the first week of school with detention.
It should also be known that any form of prejudice or racial comments made by the Sixth year will result in punishment. The point of this new program is to reduce the amount of House rivalry. If it is discovered that a Sixth year has prejudiced their Mentees against or for a House, class, or teacher, the Sixth year will face suspension for one week. This does not mean the Mentor and Mentee cannot share good natured conversation about which Quidditch team might be better or which class they prefer over the others, but any blatant prejudicing is barred.
We hope this program is well received and the Professors understand that as this is the first year of the Mentor Program, there will be bumps along the way. If you have any concerns about the program or what is or isn't allowed, please send a letter to your Head of House. If your First year student does not reply within a week of sending your first letter, please notify your Head of House.
Sincerely,
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmaster Filius Flitwick
Harry was impressed with the program. It was a clever way to make sure all First years have at least one friend before school started, and if any of the First years were sorted in a house that their mentor wasn't in, the Mentor and Mentee were still required to associate with each other through the year. Harry foresaw the biggest problem being if a Slytherin Sixth year who was pro-Pureblood received a Muggleborn first year as the child they had to mentor. He knew that had Malfoy been given a Muggleborn first year to mentor, either the kid would be left in the dirt with no guidance, or would suffer from verbal abuse at the hand of the Pure-blooded bigot. Harry hoped that all the Head of Houses were on top of this possibility.
"So Hermione, what did you mean by the New Hogwarts agenda?" asked Ginny.
"Well, I'm really not supposed to talk about it yet, since we're still developing a few of the concepts. But after hearing Malfoy Sr. talking about the classes that have been cancelled over the years, and certain other things that have been brought up, Minerva asked me to help her set up a less segregated school system. Remember how the hat commented in its Sorting song that Hogwarts needed to be less hostile between Houses?" Hermione asked. "Well, our plan is to make the school a place where the only rivalry you can find is good natured Quidditch and House Cup rivalry."
Harry personally felt like their goal was a little unattainable, but he wisely chose to keep those thoughts to himself. The four of them tried to get more out of Hermione about her and the Heads' plans for the school but the Head Girl was keeping her mouth tightly zipped around the yet unannounced plans. She claimed that she had promised the Headmistress, so she was going to keep her promise. But in one more week she'd be able to spill the beans. They spent the rest of the time stuffing envelopes in they were done, Hermione picked up the box, saying that she would run to the post office and have these delivered before dinner.
The four of them followed Hermione down the stairs where Molly soon put them all to work getting the tables set up in the garden and bringing out the platters and trays of food.
Ginny had asked for a small party, just family and a few close friends. Hermione wasn't gone for long. Luna and Neville showed up during the Table Wars. Dennis Creevey and a couple of Ginny's year mates showed up shortly after the war ended (Harry was defeated by George). Lily, James, and Sirius arrived within minutes of each other and Percy was seen not too long after them. The biggest surprise for Ginny was when Charlie came up to her and hugged her from behind. Andromeda showed up with Teddy who Harry snatched up and snuggled while Andromeda wandered off to find Lily and Molly in the kitchen.
But the best part of the night was when Bill and Fleur popped into the yard amongst the whole crowd. Instantly Harry and his friends were on the ground laughing at Bill's appearance. His bright orange skin and lime green hair stood out like Hagrid with the First years. Added to his humiliation was his bright white overalls and brown turtleneck shirt.
"Potter! I know this was you!" Bill shouted at Harry from behind Fleur's back. "Vengeance will be mine!" Fleur rolled her eyes and walked over to Ginny and gave her a hug.
"'Appy Birthday, Ginny dear," said the blonde woman.
"Thank you Fleur. Bill, I know these," Ginny gestured to her chest, "Were courtesy of you. This," she gestured to him, "Is our retaliation. So suck it up."
Harry saw Bill glare at him and he smirked and shrugged before walking over to Hermione and Ron.
"The white eyebrows were a nice touch Harry," Hermione giggled.
Dinner was a loud affair with people shouting down the long tables to one another, George and Charlie occasionally broke into song with one another, Teddy started screaming when a Firework went off suddenly, and so many different conversations going simultaneously simply added the cacophony. At one point Ron bellowed down the table to the adults end.
"Whoever cursed me to taste only baked beans is going to pay!" Everyone laughed loudly but no one would confess. After a while Ron calmed down but was left sulking and poking at his bowl of beef stew. Hermione tried to make him feel better by reminding him that he actually liked baked beans and at least it wasn't smelly feet again.
After dinner Charlie and George cried "Presents!" which made everyone form a circle around sent her and Arthur's gift down the circle to Ginny who opened it and found a delicate silver pocket watch with a pearly image of a dove on the faceplate. The letter 'P' was engraved on the front. Ginny gave her mother a questioning look and Molly smiled.
"It was my mother's watch. The 'P' is for Prewett," Ginny smiled and gave her mother and father tight hugs.
From Charlie she received a shirt and skirt. The shirt was a loose, white cotton and had an off the shoulders collar. There was delicate red stitching up the arms, and around the neck. The skirt had a darker pattern of blues, burgundy, and forest green on a black background. There was a wide, woven belt that was a deep red, with green and yellow strips. Despite the wide range of colours, they fit well with each other and made quite the fetching ensemble.
"There's a small Muggle town near the Dragon Refuge. Some of us guys will go there to the pubs once in a while on our days off and I saw this outfit and thought you might like it," he said.
From Hermione she received a homework planner, but when she glanced at the Head Girl, she saw her wink subtly. She set the book aside wondering what Hermione had actually given her.
From Ron she got new Chaser gloves and safety padding. Neville and Luna gave her a year's subscription to her two favourite magazines, Quidditch Monthly and the Quibbler. Andromeda gave her a frame that cycled through five images, all of which were of Ginny, Teddy, and Harry except the last image which was Remus, Tonks, and Teddy the day he was born.
Bill and Fleur gave her an envelope that had four Weird Sister concert tickets, which made Ron whoop loudly. Ginny then teased him asking him why he thought he'd be invited. His crestfallen look was enough to make her chuckle and take back her taunt, making him smile sheepishly. George and Percy pulled out a long thin package that made Ginny scream and tackle the two of them before she even opened it. Once it was open she repeated the process screaming the word 'Firebolt' all the way. After she calmed down enough, she continued on to Dennis' gift. She opened the box to find a beautiful leather bound photo album that had photos from her first year all the way up to the end of her fifth year.
"Colin took so many photos that I decided to put together an album for you. I have copies of all the photos, so if you ever need a replacement, I can give that to you," Dennis said with a slight smile. Ginny gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek after thanking him. Dennis turned bright red and glanced out the corner of his eye at Harry who pretended not to notice.
James and Lily handed her a card next. "We weren't exactly sure of what you might want, so we just got you a gift card," Lily said as Ginny opened it. "We figured all girls like to shop and you can't have enough clothes, so we chose Madam Malkin's. If you would prefer a different store though we can get a different one," Lily added.
"No, this is perfect. I needed some new robes for this year," Ginny said with a smile.
The next few gifts were also fairly generic. Some candles, a few packages of candy from Honeydukes, and some make up from her fellow year mates. Sirius' gift was a small box which when Ginny opened it and glanced inside, she turned beet red and gasped before slamming the box closed. She refused to let anyone look inside and sealed the box closed before she set it behind her back and leaned against it, glaring at the laughing man.
She finally got to Harry's gift. She told him it was too much since she'd already been given a gift from him but he insisted on her opening it. Inside was a jewellery box that, when opened, had a tiny little fairy that danced around in circles to the song Für Elise. There was a golden locket that held fifteen pictures inside and would rotate between them or stay on a single image if the right spell was used to freeze the image. She gave her boyfriend a long kiss that elicited wolf whistles and catcalls from her friends. Then she told everyone what he'd given her earlier and gushed with the girls about the cruise.
Soon after the gifts, Molly brought out the chocolate cake and everyone dug in while they mingled. After they were done with cake, Ginny's year mates, Neville, Luna, and Dennis had to leave as it was getting dark.
"Thank Merlin that spell wore off," Ron said as he shovelled cake into his mouth.
"I wonder who cast it on you," Harry said as he eyed the members of the older group.
"I don't know but whoever it was is getting on my last nerve. Being the butt of all the food related jokes is getting old. Every time there's a food related prank it's on me, it's not fair," Ron sulked. Hermione rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking but scooted closer to him and rubbed his back sympathetically.
Everyone mingled after cake, sipping punch and eating some of the snacks and sweets set out to sample. Harry wandered over to listen to Lily chatting with Fleur, Andromeda, and Charlie.
"So, James says, 'the corn won't pop'. There he is complaining that I bought faulty popping corn and I walk up to check that he used the right amount of oil…and the dolt was using rice!" she exclaimed with a laugh. Harry had snorted punch out of his nose and started coughing so Charlie reached over and started whacking the boy on his back. James and Sirius came over to see what the problem was and all Harry could say was 'rice' and 'popping corn' between his laughing-cough fit.
Once they all had calmed down, Sirius popped a sweet into his mouth and chewed while James started talking about a mishap in Transfiguration. He explained how Lily mispronounced the spell and instead of her pinecone turning into clear crystal, she turned her friend Alice's hair into glass, needle-thin spikes.
"Minerva couldn't figure out how to reverse what she'd done, so Alice had to have all her hair snapped off and wait for her real hair to grow back in normally. Any spell they did to speed up the growth process she just grew more glass spikes," James laughed. Lily was frowning at him.
"So Transfiguration wasn't my best subject, at least I didn't charm a friend to be depressed instead of cheerful. Poor Andy was on suicide watch for a week!" she said. James had shrugged as he stole some of Sirius' candy. Harry was laughing when Hermione walked over smirking.
"At one point Harry was learning the Summoning Charm-" she started saying.
"Hermione! Don't you dare!" Harry interrupted loudly, his laughter suddenly gone as he lunged to cover her mouth.
"Oh boy this should be good," James said.
"One time I was adopted by some Muggles in my dog form and they almost had me neutered," Sirius said abruptly. His eyes widened and he slapped his hand over his mouth.
"Wha…what did you just say, Padfoot?" James asked in confusion. Lily was giggling.
Harry and Hermione were on the ground laughing hysterically. This drew a crowd over to their circle.
"What's going on?" asked Ron.
"Padfoot….Muggles….balls cut off…." Harry choked out between guffaws.
"I don't know why I said that. Why did I say that?" Sirius muttered in confusion.
"I had sex with a doe in the Forbidden Forest once," James blurted out. Sirius froze mid-sentence and slowly turned to stare at his best friend, who was now gaping like a fish. The whole group had grown silent, eyes wide and jaws dropped in amusement. Lily glared at James who started to back away, holding his hands up.
"It was before we started dating…I didn't know it was mating season when I went out there…it was just animal instinct…it meant nothing….I'm sorry!" he yelled as he turned and ran. Lily's glare turned to an evil smile, soon enough she was laughing harder than anyone else, sitting on the ground next to Harry.
Several minutes went by while everyone laughed at James' predicament and re-told the others what Sirius has said. Everyone laughed wildly for several minutes before Molly asked Arthur to help her in the kitchen. Lily went to find James and Sirius, who had run off after his friend, and the rest of the group sat back down.
"Whoever came up with that one is brilliant. It may have happened to my own team mates but it was perfect," Bill said. The younger team's group members glanced at each other to see who would take credit as Bill spoke again.
"I spent six months dating a man the first year I was in Egypt," he said. His eyes grew wide and his brow furrowed. "Damnit, which one of you did this?" Bill shouted angrily. Suddenly it wasn't as funny to him.
At the same time Arthur came running out of the house, beet red and followed by Molly who was chasing him with a broom.
"And you can sleep in your bloody shed until Christmas for all I care Arthur Weasley!" she shouted. She turned and stalked back into the house, shooting death glares over her shoulder. Ginny swore she saw her mum smirk before entering the house. James, Sirius, and Lily were just coming around the corner when all this was happening and as soon as Molly was out of sight,the guys jogged over to the group, while Lily joined Molly and Andromeda in the kitchen.
"What the devil was that all about?" asked Sirius.
"Whoever played this prank better come clean. It has run its course and is no longer funny," Arthur said with a frown, the tips of his ears burning red.
"It got you too Arthur?" asked James with a smile.
"Me as well," Bill added, his cheeks flushed. Fleur was giving him a strange look but still held his hand.
Percy was oddly quiet, hoping no one realized he was the only one in his group to not have his deepest secret revealed.
"Well," said Arthur. "Which one of you was it?" he asked the younger group.
Hermione, George, Harry and Ginny all shared a glance. Ron just shrugged and ate something off his plate. The others had a silent conversation for a few seconds before they came to a realization.
"No one," Hermione said in surprise. "None of us did this prank."
"Myrtle once caught me in the Prefects bathroom fa-" Ron slapped a hand over his mouth. All they could decipher was the word 'mermaid'. Hermione gave her boyfriend a disgusted look while Ginny and George slid further away from him. Harry simply sniggered to himself. He remembered that painting quite well.
"Wait, so if they didn't do it, and we didn't do it, who did do it?" asked Bill.
"'Tis a most peculiar mystery," George said, popping a toffee in the air and catching it in his mouth. "What I would like to know more about is this mystery man." He looked at Bill."Was he pretty? Did he give you nice things?" Bill lunged for George who jumped up and hid behind Ginny. Charlie, Ron, and Harry were in stitches.
"Er, dad? What did you say to mum that made her act like that?" asked Ginny, who pushed George away from her.
"I refuse to repeat what I was forced to admit," he said, head held high. His red ears gave away his embarrassment though.
"Aw, dad, it can't be that bad…I used to have a huge crush on Hermione," George suddenly paused. "Er…I mean…I'm sure mum will forgive you eventually?" he finished lamely, slouching down in his chair and facing away from Ron and Hermione.
The others, realizing George had succumbed to the prank, did a double take.
"What?" shouted Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Harry hid his smile behind his hand.
Bill, Charlie, James, and Sirius all laughed at George while Arthur and Percy fought to hide their grins. George and Hermione as a couple was quite possibly the worst pairing in the world.
"So…erm, anyone want some candy? More cake? An Obliviate, possibly?" asked George.
"Not on your life, Georgie…or your love life," Charlie chuckled.
"When exactly did you have a crush on my girlfriend?" asked Ron hesitantly.
"I don't really think it matters right now, it's in the past," George said flippantly.
"Actually I wouldn't mind knowing that also," Hermione said, surprising everyone.
George hesitated and then quickly mumbled something.
"Okay, now say it so humans can understand," Ginny prompted.
"When she threatened Fred and I, in our sixth year," George sighed.
"When did I threaten you?" asked Hermione.
"When we were using students as test subjects for the Skiving Snackboxes. You said instead of giving us detention or telling teachers, you'd owl mum," George said. "It was a low blow and it made me respect you more." Harry didn't think he'd ever seen one of the twins embarrassed before and George was almost beating Ron with how red he was turning.
"That made you like me?" asked Hermione in astonishment. George nodded.
"But hey, it's not as bad as dating a man for six months, eh, Billy?" George said attempting to change the subject.
"You what?" asked Arthur, James and Sirius simultaneously. Bill glared at George.
"Okay, fine…he was Polyjuiced as a woman every time I saw her…him…I didn't know she was a he until the potion wore off one night during our date. We'd been seeing each other for almost six months by that point and…when I realized what was going on I broke it off…that's it," Bill said.
"That's not it. There's more to this story…look how red he is!" Charlie said loudly. Bill reached over and punched his younger brother in the shoulder as hard as he could. The girls winced at the thud, but Charlie barely flinched. "Come on brother dear…did you kiss him? What was his name? Did you two make the beast with two backs?" Charlie asked as he broke into a sprint away from his furious older brother. "Did you love him?" Charlie shouted as he ran.
The two ran around the yard for several minutes before Bill was close enough to body tackle Charlie to the ground and start pummelling him. "Careful, brother, you sit on a guy like this people might get the wrong impression about you!" Charlie laughed. Bill retaliated by shovelling dirt into Charlie's mouth.
While Bill and Charlie were wrestling, the rest of the group continued their conversations. Hermione and Harry put their heads together and after a few minutes the glanced at Percy, who saw the quick glance and paled.
"Daddy, please tell me what you said?" Ginny asked as sweetly as possible. Arthur frowned and shook his head. "Pretty please with a fizzing whizbee on top?" He shook his head.
"I used to dream about having Draco Malfoy's babies," she replied. Shock spread across her face. Everyone just stared at her for a moment. "Uh…I should probably add that I consider those dreams to be nightmares," Ginny added. Ron and the others gave her a revolted look but she ignored them.
"Hey dad, now you've heard my secret, can you please tell me yours?" she asked relentlessly. Sirius snorted in amusement.
Arthur ignored Ginny and continued to chat with James and Sirius.
"So has Minerva found any more instructors?" he asked.
"I believe she found someone for Muggle Studies, but she's having a hard time with the Defence position still. No one wants to deal with the curse despite the fact that it's most likely gone now that Mouldy-shorts has kicked the cauldron," Sirius said popping a biscuit into his mouth. Everyone was having seconds on their desserts before the table would be cleaned off.
"I wonder who she'll find for that position. Personally, I would think about teaching, but I'd prefer Transfiguration over Defence," James said.
"You would consider teaching? I thought you had been in training for Ward and Curse Breaking before you went into hiding," said Arthur.
"Oh, I was, but now that I'm a bit older I don't think I'd have the stamina for that line of work. I have considered construction though. All that talk about re-doing the house in Godric's Hollow got me thinking. And with all the cleaning and work we did, I have to admit that kind of career is a little more appealing than teaching or Ward breaking," James commented.
"Sometimes I get the urge to drag my arse across the floor to scratch myself," Sirius laughed. James shook his head and threw back his head and guffawed loudly. Sirius simply picked up his plate and dumped it into a garbage can. "I don't think I'm going to feel safe eating anything until this war is over," he grumbled loudly.
Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione cornered Percy at the sweets table.
"So, I'm guessing the Secrets prank was for our team but you messed up, am I right?" asked Harry. He picked up a biscuit and chomped into it, warm chocolate oozing out the side.
"Me? You think this was all my fault?" asked Percy. "Sorry to disappoint you two, but this was not my idea," he said pompously. Ron and Ginny came over soon followed by the rest of the crowd. Molly had shouted out that they were to bring in all the dishes soon and pack away the tables and chairs.
"If it wasn't you, Percy, then who was it? We know it wasn't us," said Hermione.
"I smoked the ganja I found in Dudley's room the summer after fifth year," Harry said around the toffee in his mouth. He inhaled suddenly in shock and started choking on the wad of caramel coloured goo.
"Anapneo," Hermione said waving her wand at Harry's throat. The goo flew out of Harry's trachea and slapped Percy upside the head. Harry took a deep breath and coughed a bit.
"Ugh!" said Percy as he waved his wand quickly to make the candy disappear.
"You did what?" Hermione said dangerously, still aiming her wand at Harry.
"I…er…uhm…" Harry stumbled over the words. "Uh…just, just the once…I'll explain later, okay Hermione?" he said quietly. She lowered her wand and looked at him sadly.
"What exactly does it mean, 'smoked the ganja'? What's ganja?" James asked Arthur quietly. Arthur shrugged and glanced at Bill.
"I'll explain it later," Bill said seriously.
After that everyone carried dishes of food inside. Charlie was able to convince Percy to compete in a battle of Table Wars, where everyone was incredibly surprised to see Percy come out the victor.
Once everything was cleaned up and leftovers put away, Lily suggested they all go back to Grimmauld Place for another night of memories.
a/n: Okay so this was supposed to be sent to FriendofMolly, who was my 1,000 reviewer, but there was something wrong with my file when I sent it to her, so she couldn't open it and read it...so I'm just going to dedicate this chapter to her. This ones for you FriendofMolly!
As for me, I'm sorry it's been so long. I had a fairly hectic semester but I did pretty well (2 A's and 3 +B's!) Best part was one of the As was for my art history class...the one I slept through and didn't even buy the book...Yeah baby! lol But I plan on working on this story a lot this summer so hopefully I can finish this beast soon. We only have books 6 and 7 to get through and 6 should go pretty quickly. Hopefully the Prank war is over soon too. Gotta get a winner up in this joint! Tell me who you think pulled the massive 'Secret' prank...
Is anyone planning on going to LeakyCon this summer? I want to go so bad... And the last thing...anyone who has Pottermore send me your username in a review and I'll add you. Mine is MarauderWitch182. I've been in Beta-testing for it since September but now that it's open I think I should add some people to my friend list! What are you all thinking of Pottermore? What houses are you guys in? (GO SLYTHERIN!)
Thanks to Teufel1987 for doing the beta thing. I appreciate it a lot!