A/N Sorry it's been so long since I updated. This last month has been hell as I student teach and go to school-essentially 2 full time jobs plus my teens at home. It's been a busy month. Hope you enjoy. R & R
Ch. 25
2 August 1998
The next evening, it seemed to Harry to be a replay of the night they went to Phantom of the Opera. All four men were standing at the base of the stairs waiting for their dates. While Sirius and Dora weren't dating, they were going to this "thing", as Dora called it, together.
Luna, Dora, and Emma came down to greet their men looking amazing to Harry. However, when he looked up the stairs next, he saw what he would later describe as a vision.
"Bloody Hell!" Harry exclaimed as Hermione came down in a strapless, floor-length red gown that hugged her in all the right places. Her hair was down but looked like waves of honey moving as she moved. She had a touch of makeup on.
When she met him at the bottom of the stairs all he was capable of saying was "Oh Merlin. Y-Y-You look amazing"
She giggled as she put a finger under his jaw. "You need to close your mouth and stop drooling if we're going to apparate anywhere."
He shook his head and finally was able to find an actually coherent sentence. "Then you need to stop trying to kill me." Everyone laughed at that.
Looking in his hazy eyes with that "knocked over the head with a mallet" look on his face, she decided "I'll apparate you love. I don't want you to splinch." She looked at everyone else. "Everyone ready?" She got nods in returned and they all disapparated.
They arrived outside the castle gates and walked up to the castle proper. When they got there, they had to hand over their invitations to the ministry workers before they were allowed in.
As soon as they were in the Great Hall, they noticed that instead of the usual house tables, there were white seats lined up in rows facing the dais where there was a podium with six chairs behind it.
King came up to them and pointed to the two young couples. "You four have seats on the stage. Please sit there." He said in a commanding tone that brooked no argument.
"Who are the other chairs for?" Luna asked.
"You'll see." He grinned mischievously as he nudged them up the steps. Once everyone was seated, Kingsley went to the podium and Ron and Ginny sat next to them. "Welcome to all invited guests." As Kingsley gave a speech about honor and sacrifice, all that was going through Harry's mind was: Why the hell am I up here? Why is it always me that gets dragged into these things? What are they going to want me to do? Why can't I have a normal life? And finally, it dawned on him, Oh shite, they are going to give me a 1st class aren't they?
"As you know, we are here to honor those who were sacrificed in the last two wars." He pulled off a sheet from a plaque. "This plaque lists all those that died or were injured in these wars. Each honoree or family will be getting their Dragon Heart Award by owl this week. I would like to take a minute and tell you about one such person. His name was James Potter." At this Harry perked up. "He was a firstie when I was a seventh year, but we all knew him and his buddies, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. He and Sirius were the boisterous, fun loving pair that were the life of the party that year." He paused "They also loved their pranks. I understand, even after I left, they loved their pranks." Several people sniggered at this. "The next time I met up with James, he was married to Lily. He was still boisterous but also more focused. We were in the Order together and went on several missions together. He was always professional unless he was talking about Lily or Harry. Then he got this goofy grin on his face and you could tell he worshipped the two of them. As we all know, he and Lily died trying to save their son from Voldemort when he was a year old. The both of them died that night but they took Voldemort with them for nearly fourteen years. These are only two of the people honored with a Dragon's Heart Award which acknowledges those who died or were injured in Voldemort's Reign of Terror." He lifted up a Dragon Heart Medal and said. "To all those who died or injured." He turned around and picked up an Order of Merlin 3rd class and started talking again.
Hermione, and especially Harry, had not known King was going to talk about James. At the beginning of the speech, Hermione looked at Harry's stricken face and laid her hand in his. She could see the devastation of losing his parents from his stiff posture to the expression on his face. As Kingsley started talking of their deaths, Harry turned to Hermione and buried his head in her shoulder. She just kept running her hand over his back and kept whispering. "They loved you Harry. They are so proud of you, love." over and over again. Eventually, he had gotten himself under enough control to start paying attention to his surroundings.
"So now we turn to the Order of Merlin First class awardees. These six went above and beyond in their fight against Voldemort and his enemies. These first three led the fight here at Hogwarts against the Death Eaters running the school. They protected the younger students from the more horrible punishments by taking the blame for them. When the Final Battle occurred, they were the leaders of the student fighters. These brave people are Luna Lovegood, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Please come forwards now." He turned to look at them and they started to move. Harry started clapping, then Hermione, then Ron, then more and more clapping and shouting came from the audience. Harry noticed a lot of them were DA members they found in the Room of Requirement that night. As the clapping continued, students got up. Soon everyone was on their feet and Neville was blushing like mad. He quickly sat down and the others followed suit soon. "Now, onto the last of the awardees. To introduce the first awardee, I introduce Bill Weasley." King and Bill switched places and Bill motioned Ron forward.
"I am almost 10 years older than my brother Ron." Bill began. Okay, if they got Bill to award Ron his medal, who are they going to get for me and how the hell do I get out of this? Harry thought, looking around the room.
Then Harry heard Kingsley say "To award our second nominee, here is her mother, Emma Granger."
As they switched places, Emma looked at Hermione and smiled. "Some of you know my daughter Hermione as that smart girl in class, some of you know her as Harry Potter's best friend. I know her as a beautiful, loyal, person anyone can count on to be there—even if you don't want her to be. From what I've heard from her friends, she can be bossy and a stickler for the rules but that's not all she is. She is a loving, kind, courageous and loyal person who I am very grateful to call my daughter. Honey, we love you with all our heart and are very proud of everything you've done." She was crying as she put the medallion around her neck and kissed her cheek. They separated, each taking their own seat.
"And now for the last awardee is his Godfather Sirius Black." Kingsley said as Sirius ran up to the dais and skipped up the steps. "Well. I never thought I'd be up on this stage—except to apologise for a schoolwide prank James, Remus and I pulled." People laughed as he heard Minnie snort delicately. "Anyway, as I wasn't able to spend most of his life with him, I knew Harry as a baby and a moody teen—and really there's not much difference in the personality." People laughed as Harry groaned "As a child, if Harry didn't get a ride on his broom, he threw a tantrum. As an early teen, if he didn't get what he wanted, I understand, he brooded—after slamming his door closed. However, after Voldemort came back, there was a determination in his appearance that was very familiar to me. It was the same look that James had when he told me first year that he'd marry Lily someday.
When Harry turned up at my house after the ministry fell, he had that same look in his eyes when he told me he was going to kill the bastard that had killed his parents—his words, not mine. And as any of us who know Harry understand, he meant every word. When the trio finished their work and were ready to kill Moldieshorts, they came here to confront the little shit. And you know what, he did. Just like he'd told us months previous. Harry," He turned to look at his Godson who was standing very still next to him. "Your parents and Remus would be so proud that you killed the bastard and I know for a fact they would be proud of your choice of fiancée. I love you kiddo and you truly deserve this award." He grabbed his boy and they hugged as he put the medallion over his head. As they separated, Kingsley came back up and dismissed everyone. With a wave of his wand the chairs turned into round tables set for dinner with a dance floor in the middle.
Harry looked over at Mione and took her hand. "Why don't we find a table?" He suggested as his glance included Nev and Luna.
"Sure Harry." Luna agreed and they made their way to the table. When they sat down, the rest of The Family joined them.
"So, how are you doing Harry?" Emma asked as she sat down across from him.
"As well as can be, I expect. I hate these damn things. I did what I had to, nothing more nothing less. And I'm bloody tired of being held up as some kind of damn hero. I'm Harry. Just Harry." He growled the last.
"So, you're engaged to my girl now, are you?" They heard a voice say as the owner came closer. Harry stood up and turned toward the voice. There was his ex-best friend with his wand out, his face as red as his hair and his expression one of pure fury.
Everyone in The Family stood up with Harry, every available wand at the ready. Dora came over to Ron and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ron, you don't want to do this here and now." She hissed quietly.
"Tonks, get out of my way!" He pushed her aside and she fell backwards on her bum.
Harry heard a "Shite!" as she got up.
"Dora no!" Harry hissed as he stepped up to Ron. Pointing his wand at Ron, he hissed, "DON'T. YOU. EVER. HIT. MY. FAMILY. AGAIN."
"Well, then don't steal mine!" Ron was now getting louder and louder. "My family goes to your house each week and leaves me to mind the store. That should be me. I'm just as worthy as you but you get everything: money, the house, the fame and the girl I wanted. Even when I get something special like this—" he thrust his medallion out, "you get one too!" Two spells flew past Harry and hit Ron in the chest. Suddenly it was dead quiet and Ron was stiff as a board and falling forward. Harry caught him and laid him down.
Harry looked behind him and saw his godfather smirk, "Sorry Harry. He needed to shut up. You weren't doing it, so I had to. He's not ruining this night for us."
When Harry looked at Mione she just remarked, "Needed to be done." As he turned back to Ron, he saw two Aurors carting him away. Harry then pulled out Mione's chair and sat next to her, pretending to forget all about it. He began to tamp down on his anger to forget about it, when Mione whispered, "We'll talk about it later. You are not bottling this up mister." She smiled at him as he relaxed. She knew him too well.
After they ate an amazing dinner, Harry and Hermione danced. "Wow! You're not tripping over your own feet." Hermione teased.
"Yes."
"Well, colour me surprised." She laughed.
HP
The next day, everyone had a lazy morning. Dora eventually went over to her parents' house to pick Teddy up from his sleepover. Harry and Nev started talking about taking a small vacation to one of their properties. Consequently, they went to Gringotts later in the morning to see where they could go. They narrowed it down to two. One was a Potter villa in Tuscany, the other a Longbottom home in Greece.
Hermione, meanwhile, was putting together the ideas the Alliance heirs had on Friday to start a presentation. The heirs would be coming to the Madhouse for a working dinner tonight.
HP
That evening Bill showed up a little earlier than anyone else. "Hey Bill. Come on in." Harry welcomed him.
"Hey Harry. Is Hermione here?" He asked nervously.
"Sure. Come out to the terrace." He smiled at Bill, trying to make him feel more comfortable. Harry was a little concerned because Bill was never nervous, at least that Harry saw.
"Hey Bill." Mione greeted as she reached for a hug. Afterwards, she looked at Bill critically. "So, what's wrong Bill?"
He looked startled. "Why'd you ask that?"
"Because that wasn't like most hugs from you."
Bill huffed "I just wanted to apologise on our family's behalf for last night." When they looked a little confused, he elaborated, "Ron."
Mione snorted. "That's nothing for you to worry about. We don't hold it against you." She chuckled at the look of relief on his face. "That's who Ron is. He'll either grow up and be civil to us or not. Our relationship with your family doesn't change because your brother's a prat." She laughed again and decided to have a go at him. "However, had the twins done something, that'd be unforgivable." All three laughed.
Soon the rest of the Heirs arrived and they got to work. It became something of a routine. During the evenings, the heirs would eat dinner and brainstorm. The next morning, Hermione would work all their notes into a coherent plan. That evening, they'd go over the plan so far and brainstorm more.
On Thursday, they decided that they'd share brunch Saturday morning to finish up, then present it that night.
Throughout all this, Harry and Nev talked their family into leaving Sunday morning for Tuscany and coming home Wednesday night for Wizengamot Thursday.
Saturday morning Harry woke up with Teddy but, instead of getting up to cook breakfast, they went back to sleep on the terrace outside the kitchen. When they were woken up by Hermione, it was to let them know that everyone would be arriving in ten minutes for brunch.
Harry just looked at his godson, who was grinning and pulling on Harry's stubble. "Guess we better get up kiddo." He groaned as he attempted to get out of the chair. "Oooomph." He grunted as he got to his feet.
A few minutes later, everyone was gathered around the tables on the terrace filling plates. "So," Harry stood after everyone was seated. "Hermione has been working on a plan that needs a vote this morning. I understand that the governmental system we are suggesting is much simpler than the system muggle England uses now but is not dissimilar. First, Wizengamot will be the upper house of our system while the lower house is popularly elected. There will be thirty members, one for each regional district. The lower house, or the House of Commons, will not have much power at first. It will basically rubber stamp what Wizengamot does. Over time we can hand over more responsibility to it." And the discussion went on from there.
That evening, after everyone discussed what was on the agenda for August. Sirius stood. "In a few minutes, we will hear some ideas from our heirs about how to make Wizengamot more accessible to the regular witch or wizard. However, right now I want to bring up something we've been talking about all month. That is, I think we should propose on Thursday that Wizengamot should meet once a week. While all of us are working together and with others outside the Alliance to get things like protections for other magical beings passed, we have to wait an entire month to bring it to the floor. This gives people time to renege on their promises because they are talked out of it. Is there support for this idea?
"What if we can't come to each session? I am Headmistress at Hogwarts." McGonagall asked.
"That's when you send your proxy." Silas answered.
"I guess it is reasonable to assume we can't get everything done in those 5 hours a month." Someone else said.
"You know, it was only during Voldemort's rise that Wizengamot went to once a month sessions." Thomas Ogden volunteered. The debate was fierce sometimes but they eventually voted to propose this change.
"Now, those of you that do not live here, probably have no idea what our heirs are going to suggest next." Sirius grinned mischievously. "I've watched them sit in the kitchen debating how to make our government work properly, for all magical people." At the incredulous looks on his allies faces, he burst out laughing. Boy, was he going to love watching these oldsters as their children suggest changing the world, he laughed to himself. "Anyway, I'll hand it off to Bill Weasley who will tell you about how they want to change the tax system." He sat down.
Bill stood and moved to the front. "Right now, from what all of us could tell, the tax system runs along the idea of donations. It depends on the wealthy families donating to the DMLE or the Creatures Dept each year, am I right?" he got several nods. "Once each department sets their budget for the year, it's sent to Wizengamot where each family decides how much of that department they'll support. This is why in some times, the Department of International Cooperation gets 3 times the funding as the DMLE, yeah?"
"Exactly!" Amelia Bones said exasperatedly. Everyone who had heard Amelia's rants about funding laughed.
"So, we decided we need a more even-handed tax system that applies to everyone." Bill continued, holding up his hands for quiet. "Please listen. We learned how the muggles do this. They tax every adult in the country based on what you make. For instance, Harry will pay a larger percentage of his income as taxes because he makes more from investments than most make in a lifetime. I will pay much less because I am a lowly curse breaker not a Lord who doesn't have to work." Everyone laughed at how red Harry was.
"Hey that's not my fault!"
"Sorry Harry. Just taking the mickey." Bill laughed. "Anyway," he continued a minute later. "Does anyone have any questions so far?"
"Why change the system that already works?" Doge asked.
"It only works for you." Bill replied. "Most magicals have given up on our government protecting them because they see it as only working for the purebloods. If we begin with an equitable tax plan that will go to helping the everyday person, maybe they'll start trusting the government more."
This led to a debate by some of the old families as to why they should care about the normal magicals. It went on until eleven o'clock when they took a vote and it passed by one.
The heirs then decided to leave the reformation of the government to a later date. Everyone was tired and frustrated and the heirs wanted their full attention for that. Before everyone could leave however, Nev made a suggestion, "Could we please have another Alliance meeting before school starts so we all know where we are with all this?"
"Of course." Sirius agreed as others nodded. "Why don't we do it the Saturday before they leave?"
HP
Sunday morning, everyone was up at the crack of dawn. Sirius had gotten the reusable portkey to the Potter residence near Porto Santo Stefano that week from Ted. By 6.15, The Family plus Dan and Emma were in the entrance hall waiting for the portkey to trigger.
When they landed, they were outside a white old-fashioned roman style villa. "Wow." Emma whispered. "This is huge."
Sirius laughed. "Yeah. Come on, I'll show around. This is where your parents went on their honeymoon Harry."
"James had good taste!" Hermione agreed. "This would make a great place for a honeymoon Hint Hint." Harry laughed.
They walked around to a stone patio and walkway that led down to a pool with deck chairs under a pergola. From the patio, they could see the Mediterranean Sea laid out in all its glory.
They walked through the French doors leading from the patio to the kitchen. There, Dobby was already making breakfast. There was a beautiful farmhouse dining table set for breakfast.
"Breakfast will be in 20 minutes." Dobby smiled at his family.
They went through the house which had a formal dining room, sitting room, drawing room, study and bathroom on the ground floor. On the first floor, there were seven bedrooms each with en suites. Although the flooring on the ground floor was stone, the bedrooms were done in light carpet.
They each chose rooms and then went back to the kitchen. "I think I'm going to spend the day sunbathing." Hermione decided. "Want to join me mum? Luna?"
"Sure." The three women grinned at each other.
For the most part, the four-day vacation was spent on the beach or by the pool. Unless they were off exploring the history around them. They spent most of Monday and part of Tuesday in Florence, in both the magical section and the muggle. They went through Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace.
At night, the two couples went out to dinner both together and separately. It was finally Tuesday night, the day before they went home when Emma brought up the wedding.
"So, Hermione. When is the date for the wedding? Or have you even thought of that?" She laughed at the horror-struck look on the young couple's faces.
"I guess it'll be next summer." Hermione thought aloud as she bit her lip. She looked at Harry. "I think we decided August, yeah?"
"Sounds good to me." Harry took a deep breath. "If we're going to go back to Hogwarts that year for masteries, then it should be early August so we can get ready for the year after. According to Minerva, a Mastery can take three years and that includes teaching at least part-time."
"When'd you talk to Minerva about that?" Sirius asked.
"At my birthday party." He grinned. "She wanted to let me know that the Wizarding Examinations Authority was considering giving Hermione, Ron and I our NEWTs in Charms and Defence. She was also trying to get them to use the students' performance in the Battle to award at least NEWTs in DADA and maybe Charms as well."
"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Hermione. "That's two less classes this year. Maybe I can start my Mastery work this year." She smiled happily.
"Or you can use that time to plan the wedding." Emma reminded her daughter.
"Yes. Or I can do that." She smirked, her mum was looking forward to this too much.
HP
The next day, they portkeyed home. They arrived in the entrance hall and went to unpack. When everyone was done, they congregated in the game room. "I guess I should check up on the construction site today." Harry thought aloud as he got his phone out and began dialing Ariana's number.
"I'd best check in with Dirk." Nev added.
"And we'll get a heads up from Fleur." Hermione looked at Luna. "Why don't we go to the Alley, that way we can go to Flourish's even if Fleur isn't in?"
"And we should check in on the store." Luna added as Hermione and she stood up.
"We'd better go check in on the practice." Emma put in as she also got up.
"Wait, Wait, wait. Hold on before everyone rushes off!" Sirius yelled over the hubbub. Everyone looked over at him. "We just got back from a brilliant vacation. Don't overdo it today. Everyone be here by six for dinner, yeah?"
"Okay." Everyone agreed as they went their separate ways.
Luna and Hermione were the first down the stairs to apparate to the headquarters of MIT in a business district off Diagon Alley called Commerce Alley.
When they got there, Luna and Mione were amazed. They strode into 33 Commerce Alley and looked at the Directory on the wall. "There it is." Hermione pointed to the display. "They're on the third floor. It looks like Fleur has rented the entire floor." She remarked as they got on the lift.
When they arrived at the third floor, there was a young witch with honey coloured hair sitting in the lobby at a desk. "How may I help you?" She asked.
"Where is Fleur Weasley? We wanted to check in with her." Hermione smiled.
"Can I tell her who is asking?"
"Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood"
"Just a moment." She picked up a telephone-like device and spoke into it asking if Fleur could see them. After she hung up, she said, "She'll be right out. You may sit over there." She waved to the couches available.
As they were about to sit, they heard Fleur say, "Welcome 'ermione and Luna." as she walked up and gave them pecks on the cheeks. "It's good to see you look so tanned. I guess Tuscany agrees with you?" She laughed musically as both girls nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah. It was wonderful." Hermione smiled. "We relaxed and took in some sights. But all good things end." She answered as they joined Fleur in the heart of the office. Hermione noted the cubicle style setup on the majority of the floorspace. However, along the side of the building looking over the street, she saw several offices. The largest one was the corner office which had floor to ceiling windows on both the north and west sides of the office. There was a smaller office cubicle obviously set up for the secretary in front of the office. Looking down the hall, there were several offices that had similar views of the street.
They walked into the large office and saw it decorated very conservatively. To Hermione it looked like any office a person would see on a telly. The only difference was the wedding picture of Bill and Fleur on the desk moved.
"Now, how can I help you today?" Fleur looked every bit the businesswoman behind her desk as she looked at them.
"We were wondering how the organization of the business was going?" Luna asked.
"Well, we have the manufacturing plant up and running. We have a staff working there to rune and charm each item after it's manufactured. Then it's sent to the store's warehouse." She smiled. "My question is: do we want to hire more inventors to come up with analogs of muggle products or create their own. Or we could simply have you come up with ideas and have our staff work on them. We want to keep the ideas flowing."
Hermione and Luna looked at each other. "I think we'll need to talk about it. I'm not sure if I want to keep inventing for the commercial market or do what Luna's mum Pandora did. She invented spells and that's something we're both interested in."
"Neither of us have the patience for marketing or any of that. At heart, we're both academics. It just so happens our first inventions were commercial ideas." Luna continued.
"So, maybe we hire some to invent and use you as consultants. If you happen to come up with an idea, bring it to me and we'll figure out how to develop it." Fleur suggested.
"Makes sense." Hermione nodded. "How are we doing profit-wise?"
"Well, we spent a lot of money on getting the manufacturing up and running. It'll be a few months until we're making a profit again."
"Okay. Glad to know it's going so well without us." Luna grinned.
"That's what you pay me for." Fleur smiled back reassuringly.
The girls stood up. "Well, we'll see you Sunday then." They said as they left.
HP
While their girls were out looking after their business, the boys split up to look at their own projects. They both apparated to the apparition spot next to the orphanage.
"Wow." Harry sighed. "It's almost done."
"At least it looks like it from the outside." Nev said. They had apparated to the front of the building. It was a long rectangular building with the four towers. The front door was a solid oak door that looked like it could stand up to a battering ram. "Why don't you go ahead, Harry. I'm going to see Dirk." Nev waved as he walked back to the apparition point and Harry walked in.
Going straight in, there was a beautiful grand staircase, very much like Hogwarts but with an escalator included. On the right, was the Great Hall that ran to the back of the building. The outside walls of the hall were windows. To the left of the front doors was the game room. This had a small staircase in the middle that went up to another level of the game room. From both floors of the game room, you could walk through the back-wall archway to a huge library. The library also had a staircase from the ground floor to the first floor of books. It also had a doorway to the back of the building and a fireplace. There were a few window seats on the back and west wall of the library, which led to a very sunlit library. He could see little Penny sitting there reading in a few weeks.
He went back downstairs from the main stairs and went behind them. There was a hall that went from the library to the Great Hall. Off this hallway were offices.
He went to the first floor and saw that the back wall and above the Great Hall were classrooms. The second, third, and fourth floors were classrooms and living space for all the staff.
The main staircase branched at the fifth floor and led to the four corners of the building. He saw entrances to each common room at each corner of the building. He wondered what they did with the lower part of each tower. From the outside, it looked as though the towers come from the ground floor but the dormitories didn't start until the fifth floor. He started heading back down because it sounded like they were still working in the towers.
He headed back to the offices to see if Venus was in. He found her in the largest office.
"Hey Venus. How is everything going?" He asked after he was bade to come in. He sat down languidly in the comfortable chair across from his new friend.
"Really well actually." She smiled. "They'll be done tonight with construction and furnishing will happen tomorrow. We have everything, the elves just need to place it all. Everyone will move in Friday after lunch. Are you going to be here for the opening?"
"Of course. I want to see Penny and Kyle." He laughed. "I noticed the pitch is ready."
"Yeah. Auntie's been hounding me to get that up." She laughed.
"I bet." Harry sniggered. He knew now that some of the players on the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw teams would be moving in, so they'd be practicing. "Hey, the dorms don't start until the fifth floor. What are in the towers below those floors?" he asked.
"That's elf housing and storage." She supplied. "The elves are in the north and east towers and the storage is in the other two."
"Okay. That makes sense. Are all the live-ins already here?"
"No. They'll be moved in tomorrow. Why doesn't your family come have dinner with us tomorrow? You can meet everyone and we can do a full tour after dinner."
He smiled. "That'd be brilliant." He stood up. "Thank you, Venus." He reached out and hugged her. "Thanks for making this so easy or at least look easy. I wish I'd had someone like you when I was growing up."
"You're welcome Harry. I'm glad to do it." she replied as he walked out of the office. He went to the apparition point and apparated to the nursery.
HP
When Hermione and Luna left the office, they decided to go to Flourish and Blott's. "You know, Luna, we have more books in our library than I think even the Black Library has. I'm wondering if we should cut down on the amount we spent at Flourish's." She turned to look at Luna who was just staring at her in that wide-eyed fashion she had. Then she said, very seriously, "We should have enough, shouldn't we?"
At that, Luna started to giggle. Then Hermione started to giggle. "I almost believed you for a minute." Luna was now in hysterical-laughter mode, Hermione not far behind as they walked in. The look of surprise on Mr. Blott's face was so strange, it was like ice water to the face.
They split up then. Hermione went to the rare books collection while Luna went to the Charms books.
About an hour later, both girls were up paying for their purchases. They went through their normal banter as they waited in line.
"So how many did you get?" Luna asked.
"I stopped counting at 15." She grinned impishly. "You?"
"Last count was 20." They both laughed. "We say it every time but we shouldn't bring our cards to this place. We have a tendency to buy too much."
Hermione sighed. "I know but for us it's like clothing shopping for most witches."
"You can never have too many books, Ms. Granger." Mr. Blott smiled. "And Ms. Lovegood, it runs in your family. Your mother was always here looking something or another up. You two obviously treasure books, so I have no problem parting with some of my prizes."
HP
When the boys got home, not only did the house smell delicious but the Beatles were echoing off the walls, it seemed. Not loudly, it just seemed to be everywhere.
"Merlin that smells good!" Nev groaned. "It smells like Mitzy's peach cobbler." He started toward the kitchen. While Harry had never had peach cobbler outside Hogwarts, and didn't much care for it there, two things made him follow Nev. First, he'd only ever seen that look on Nev's face after he'd been snogging Luna, so this must really be something. And two, it really smelled scrumptious as Mione would say.
When they got to the kitchen, Dobby was singing happily as he made dinner. He looked up at the boys and his countenance turned into a fierce protectiveness, which was quite comical to Harry. He'd only seen this side of Dobby about him or protecting his kitchen rights at breakfast. He nearly burst out laughing when Dobby continued "Mister Neville may not have any cobbler before dinner. Mitzy warned me you might try to steal it like you did as an elfling." He spoke intensely as he snapped his fingers and a shield went around the baking cobbler.
When he saw this, Harry couldn't stop it. As Nev's face got red in embarrassment or anger-Harry wasn't sure-Harry started laughing, then giggling, then full belly laughing. He couldn't stop. "It's not funny Harry!" Nev complained. "All I want is a small bite! I knew it was Mitzy's. She makes the most amazing cobblers. Can't—"
"NO!" Dobby yelled. This got Harry's attention.
"Nev, don't push him." Harry sobered up quickly. "The last time I heard that tone, he dropped Malfoy on his arse."
"Oh." Nev whined as Dobby's grin took up his whole face.
"That was a great thing I did to bad old master!" He said proudly.
"Yes it was, dear friend." Harry smiled back at the little guy. "I'm going to find Teddy. Protect the cobbler Dobby!" He yelled as he left.
"Not funny Harry!"
"I will Master!" followed him out as he chuckled while thinking about Mitzy's warning.
HP
When the girls came home, they heard lots of talking from the game room; so, they headed up there after dropping their books off. When they got there, The Family and Grangers were there.
"Hey Mum, Dad" Hermione leaned down for a kiss. She then went to Teddy, who was with Harry, and kissed him.
"Hey! Don't I get a kiss?" Harry reached up towards his fiancée.
"Oh you want a kiss?" she smiled teasingly as he nodded his head. She shrugged. "Okay." She reached down and gave him a quick peck.
"Hey! Come here, you." He got up, gave Teddy away and took her from behind as she had turned around.
"Hey!" She batted his arms away as she turned to him grinning. "I knew I'd get a real kiss if you had to get up." She teased as she kissed him passionately. In fact, it was so passionate that Sirius and Nev were wolf-whistling and Dan was starting to clear his throat loudly.
When they separated, he put his forehead on hers, "You miss me or something?" he asked quietly.
"Very much. I love you, my fiancée."
"As I love you." He smiled, thinking that he was going to marry the love of his life. "We really should set a date. I can't wait to marry you." Hermione giggled as they sat down together as Teddy was handed back to his godfather.
HP
The next morning, after breakfast, the two couples decided they wanted to go to Hogsmeade and look around. As they did in East Grinstead, they separated by sexes.
Luna and Hermione decided to go to Tomes and Scrolls later or they'd never leave. As they walked down not only High Street but some of the offshoots, they found a wedding dress and robe shop.
"Let's go in here." Luna said as she pulled Hermione towards Everything Bridal. "I know some people use this shop for everything they need for their weddings-cakes, food, dresses, favours, wine, anything you can think of." She said. They walked into a clearly magically-expanded front room. It reminded Hermione of those wedding expos they do in the muggle world where they have photographers, cake designers, caterers, florists, and DJ's. It was extremely overwhelming for Hermione. However, her extremely logical side went into action and she decided some decisions about the wedding could be made now.
She turned to Luna and asked softly, "Would you like to be my Maid of Honor, Luna?"
Luna got a big grin on her face. "You know, you've asked me that before? I said yes then and I say it now. Yes I'd love to."
Hermione shook her head and grinned. "I guess I'm already so nervous about it, I forget. I need a wedding organiser."
HP
That afternoon Wizengamot met and approved the changes to the schedule. They would now meet once a week instead of once a month. They also appointed a committee to report about the feasibility of a separate department to oversee the more even tax code the LPB Alliance proposed.
Sirius spoke again about both issues and seemed to win over a few of the non-allied members of Wizengamot with his impassioned speeches. It was fascinating for Harry to be witness to his godfather's charisma again.