A/N: CRIKEY IT HAS BEEN A HOT MINUTE! My new job has been chilled out but busy - Initially, I was going between 3 offices which were not far apart, but you can imagine both the commute and the amount of work has been a lot. But what matters is I am here now, and will be posting more regularly, especially as as of the 1st June I'm doing 2 days working from home a week. Anyhow, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Dorea squealed with excitement when Hannah appeared through the Floo, and rushed forward to be the first to greet their new guest. Poor Hannah had had a tough time of it, with her mother passing away and then having to deal with her dad's girlfriend treating her badly all of a sudden. "Gosh, let her breathe, Dorea," Sirius quipped.
"So glad you're here," Dorea said when hugging her dear friend.
After saying hello to everyone, (and becoming shocked when she realised that, actually, Regulus Black, so infamous for being dead, was alive and well), Hannah got the grand tour of Black Manor. She couldn't believe how big it actually was, and she had her mouth open in amazement the whole time. When it came to choosing a room, she opted for one on the same corridor as Amelia and Dorea; which quickly got dubbed "The Girls Corridor". Once Hannah realised that Sirius could conjure furniture for her, she was choosing to have a large wardrobe, a spacious chest of drawers, a bedside table, a bookcase that spread across the entire back wall, and a study desk. She even opted for a sofa to lounge on by the window.
The teens stayed with her whilst she unpacked and got settled in. Hannah gradually got more and more at ease as the hours went on. It was nice to see her properly relaxing after the horrors of losing her mother, and then being bullied out of her father's home by his girlfriend. Ophelia had taken her under her wing as well - complimenting Hannah on how alike she was to her mother and what a great girl she was. Dorea looked at Hannah and Ophelia interacting and wondered what the latter would be like if she had a daughter; for she was so understanding and empathetic on the things Hannah was talking to her about. But then she supposed that if Ophelia did have a daughter, it would be a double-edged sword; they would have been raised under Rohan Nott's roof, and likely have been abused by him too, the same way Theo and Ophelia were.
Dinner was also a chilled affair. Ophelia had asked Hannah a few hours before that she could choose what to have - a nice way to welcome her in and celebrate her first day living with them. Hannah had chosen a chicken, ham and leek pie, - one of her favourites, served with various cooked vegetables such as asparagus and mashed potato, which was cooked to absolute perfection by Ophelia. "Do you wanna know something?" Amelia whispered to Dorea whilst they came downstairs to sit at the table just as dinner was being served up.
"Let me guess - you're pregnant and getting married to Theo, and I'm your bridesmaid?" Dorea quipped in exaggeration.
Amelia grinned. "Nope. Not yet anyway." At Dorea's pointed look, Amelia spoke quietly again, "I came down here about an hour ago to grab a glass of juice, and Regulus was helping Ophelia chop vegetables."
At the last part, Dorea's eyebrows furrowed, and she looked past Amelia to look at her uncle, who was also helping serve up. She almost rolled her eyes at Amelia. "He's just being helpful. Also, they live in the same house and are lovely people - of course they're going to be friends of a sort and help each other out. Thirdly, you're a weirdo."
Amelia nearly let a laugh escape her before she remembered this was a private conversation. The others turned and looked at her quizzically when she let out the noise, but she smoothly covered it up with a cough and a wave of the hand to say she was okay.
The next few days passed by in calm. Dorea was counting down to her birthday, which was only four days away now. Her birthday was the 24th July - exactly a week before Harry and Amelia's, who were also in countdown mode for theirs. After Harry and Amelia's birthday on the 31st, they would be back in celebratory mood - for Barnaby was 15 on the 2nd of August.
On the 23rd, Sirius came back from work at the Ministry looking a bit giddy. The kids - as well as Regulus - eyed him curiously.
"How was work today, Sirius?" Ophelia asked, not looking up from the dessert she was preparing at the same time as stirring the dinner.
"Oh, splendid," Sirius said in a sing-song tone. "Passed a few bills of law pertaining to the more.. Let's say, unserious, committee's that I'm in."
"Ah, so more regulations on the import of wand wood, then?" Regulus quipped, wondering why on earth his older brother was almost glowing with mirth.
"You could say that." Sirius said, and then produced from his inner jacket pocket some envelopes, displaying them almost with jazz hands. "My colleague gave me these. They're for each of you." He then started giving one envelope to each of the teenage occupants of Black Manor.
Amelia looked at everyone. Barnaby wasted no time in tearing into his envelope, and quickly the others did the same. Amelia pulled the letter out. It read:
" Dear Miss Amelia Lily Potter
You are graciously invited to attend
Greengrass Platinum Ball
20th August 1996
Banksville (Greengrass Manor)
5:30pm onwards
Please RSVP to Robin & Thomasina Greengrass before midnight on 13th August.
Amelia looked up at her family and friends and smiled with excitement - Daphne's family were hosting a ball? Like the ones in the novels? Well, it brought excitement to her, at least. The boys looked a bit nonplussed and even nonplussed.
"How fancy!" Dorea exclaimed in wonder.
"Is this a normal thing for a wizarding family to do - host a ball? It's just I've never heard of any other family doing it." Harry asked aloud.
"Daphne told me this once; her house in particular only hosts a ball every ten years. This is the 70th year since the first one was held - hence why it's being called the Platinum Ball." Blaise said almost expertly.
"Ooh, I wonder if there's a theme this year!" Hannah pondered in excitement.
"I still don't get why you're grinning like a Cheshire Cat, Siri," Regulus said, still eyeing his older brother.
"Well - for you youngins, it means you'll be putting your etiquette lessons to good use!" Sirius said, choking back laughter.
The realisation hit all of the teenagers in Black Manor then. This was a formal event - of course they would be playing cordial and fancy. That made Amelia think - who else would be invited to the Greengrass Ball? Surely they wouldn't be inviting the Pureblood families of the Sacred 28 that were largely Death Eaters? Another sudden thought - what if there was a protocol that meant it was mandatory to invite all houses?
"They better not invite the Pureblood supremacists," Theo groaned.
"Don't worry about that - I work with Robin Greengrass, and he hates those people as much as anyone here does." Sirius said. That eased Amelia's earlier inner questions a bit.
"I guess you girls will be going dress shopping!" Ophelia said, eyeing Amelia, Hannah and Dorea.
Amelia grinned back, and she suddenly felt a need to look at Theo in that moment. She observed him and silently regarded him - it was like he suddenly realised that his mum and Regulus were the only people that hadn't been invited. He pouted slightly before he considered something. Amelia loved just watching him - she could read his microexpressions as clearly as if he was speaking out loud. Then he spoke. "Mum, you can be my plus-one!"
It was then that Amelia smirked, and she felt warm inside. "Me and Amelia both got separate invites, and we're obviously going to be going as a couple, but either of us can still bring at least one person along. I want you to come, mum." Theo continued.
Ophelia looked at her son with nothing but love. "Oh, Theo, I, I couldn't-."
"-Ophelia, you know Thomasina Greengrass, right?" Sirius cut in, not unkindly in the slightest.
Ophelia nodded. "As close as sisters from our Hogwarts days. But because Rohan forbade me from visiting friends, I never got to see her often…" She sounded sad towards the end.
Hannah, ever the empathetic Hufflepuff, spoke up in encouragement, even though she'd only known Ophelia a matter of hours. "But you're free now! That man no longer restricts your every movement. I'm sure Thomasina Greengrass would be delighted to see you there. Perfect place to catch up."
Ophelia sighed slightly, then smiled. "Oh… Well, if you insist, Theo,"
"Good lad, Theo," Regulus reached forward and patted him on the shoulder, and then turned to Ophelia. "You raised him well."
"You deserve to come too, uncle," Dorea pointed out.
"I imagine if I walked in, alive and well, it would be akin to Bellatrix Lestrange walking in the door." Regulus chuckled.
"We've glamoured you before…" Blaise added.
"That was to go out for an Indian in the muggle town, Blaise," Regulus quipped, "who would I be disguised as this time? Reggie the plumber?"
"Best believe we'll make it our mission for all of us to have a nice night out in good company." Harry said, his close friends in fierce agreement.
This Ball at Daphne and Astoria's house occupied much of Harry's mind in the coming days. He didn't have to worry about outfit planning as much as the girls did - he had a perfectly good shirt, tie, suit jacket and trousers to hand that he wore for the more formal events during their Ilvermorny visit, all they needed was a freshen up and an iron. But the subject of a plus-one was nagging him. Of course he wanted to ask Ginny - he was sure that, with her being particularly close to Astoria, she definitely would have gotten an invite. And they had snuck off for another kiss in Fred and George's shop the other day… But whenever it came to asking the all-important question, it seemed none of them would actually say it. There most certainly was a want to ask it - as both would say yes in a heartbeat, - but it was like there was a physical barrier preventing them from asking it aloud.
Get a grip of yourself! Harry scolded himself, as he sat on his bed half an hour before lights out, not knowing what to do with himself.
The longer this whole thing went on - the worse the yearning got. He looked at what other couples had - Daphne & Anthony, Fred & Dorea, and even what his own twin had with Theo, and he wanted that so badly. Quite frankly, it was all bubbling over now. He needed to man up. Over the last year he had gained confidence in speaking to a whole room of people in regards to the DA - a lot of them being strangers before he started the group. He could speak to them like a teacher addressing a class, yet he couldn't ask Ginny Weasley to be his girlfriend. It was strange how these things worked.
An idea sparked - what if he went over after lights out?
Risky. He could Floo right into her living room and end up running into Ron, or the twins - or the whole house. It was like his body automatically moved itself for him - he got up and grabbed a scrap piece of paper and haphazardly opened his ink pot and sloshed his quill in it a few times before writing:
"Ginny, can I come over?
-HP"
Barely giving a chance for the actual ink to dry, he tiptoed to his bedroom door and opened the door. Harry poked his head around the door, checking that nobody was in the corridor. He walked as calmly and as naturally as he could down the stairs, thankfully not meeting anyone on the way down. Just as he was about to round the corner that would take him towards the living room - and, crucially, to the fireplace, he heard some footsteps. Standing flush against the wall, he was relieved when they didn't come around the corner and walk into him - but, rather, head into the downstairs loo. He peeked around, checking if the way was clear. It was.
He quietly turned the knob on the living room door, and opened it slowly. He peeked his head around, scanning the room diligently - nobody was in here. Thankfully.
Once inside, he locked it behind him so that nobody could come in. Harry then darted over to the hearth and immediately got to work. He grabbed a handful of Floo powder, and spoke the name of The Burrow before sticking his head in.
As his sight adjusted to the new view, he could vaguely hear someone. He stayed silent until he could see who it was. He couldn't believe his luck when he saw it was Ginny.
He couldn't risk blatantly speaking to her out loud - what if there was someone else in the room with her, but they were just silent? His quick thinking came up with a plan - he stuck his hand in and placed his written message on the ashes of the fireplace on her end, and made an audible sound that only she could hear. He breathed a sigh of relief when she walked over, but before she could react to seeing his face in the hearth, he departed - leaving only the written note.
He only had to wait a minute before he could stick his head - and his whole body - in the Floo, as Ginny had written a response: "Yes, of course."
When he got through, he was immediately enveloped by the warmth and homely feel of The Burrow. He realised that part of that affection for this place also stemmed from Ginny. "Hey," he said after a few moments.
"Hey," Ginny responded, almost uncharacteristically shy. "So.. why did you want to speak?"
He cleared his throat slightly. "D-did you get an invite to the Greengrass Ball?"
He swore Ginny's eyes lit up. "Yes."
Here goes nothing. "Well.. I'm here to ask you… Will you be my date for the Ball?" He tried to speak in a calm manner. As he did, he felt himself flush.
"Oh, Harry," Ginny said after a few moments, "Wayne Portchester already asked me… and I said yes."
Harry's heart nearly jumped out of his throat at that admission. You idiot, he said mentally to himself, you dilly-dallied too much and now this has happened because you can't man up and ask a question!
"Oh, I-"
Ginny burst out laughing, "-Harry, I'm kidding!"
At that, Harry's heart rate decreased and internal berating ceased. Well, almost. He was annoyed how he fell for that joke.
"Didn't answer my question," he remarked cheekily.
Now it was Ginny's turn to blush. She grinned at him. "Yes, Harry, I'll go with you to the Ball. I would be honoured."
He grinned back, finding himself just staring at her. "There's something else I wanted to ask."
She eyed him, perhaps a bit nervously. "Go ahead."
He sighed and then spoke. "Ginny. You… you occupy my mind, day and night. Ever since.. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't know when I started seeing you differently, but all I know is that it's been nothing but yearning the day that Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup, and you went to kiss my cheek but I turned my head before realising you were there and we kissed…" He took another breath, as he had rambled a bit there. "We have danced around this question. On a few occasions now. But I am ready, at long last. I think that you are amazing, wonderful - talented, and most of all beautiful. And… And I would be honoured to call you mine. On that note - Ginny, will you be my girlfriend?"
He realised how smitten Ginny looked in that moment, and he was probably mirroring her. "Yes, Harry, I will be your girlfriend!"
He chuckled in delight, and leaned forward to give her a hug. As he pulled back, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. She went an even deeper shade of red.
They seemed to stare at each other for only a few moments, yet they felt like eternity. Then it was like a magnetic pull - they both leaned in at the same time and kissed each other on the lips - their first as boyfriend and girlfriend, their fourth overall. And it felt so fucking good.
Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end - which they learned to their chagrin when they suddenly heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Ginny pulled back immediately. "Go!" She ushered him towards the fireplace. "Speak tomorrow!"
Just as he stepped in and grabbed some Floo powder, he cheekily said, "Goodbye, darling."
As the Floo powder billowed him back to Black Manor, he caught Ginny's expression - she looked like she melted at the term of endearment.
Harry was pretty sure you couldn't beat the smile off of his face. Not even torture would stop him from grinning ear to ear. He had secured both his date for the Greengrass Ball, and the girl of his dreams.