The others shared looks at Harry's announcement at having a plan.
"Mate…" Ron started but Harry shook his head.
"No, listen to me. I actually thought this through."
Hermione smirked. "And by thought through, it means he ran it by me and Ginny first."
Harry stuck his tongue out at her. "Well, yeah. But I did most of the mental leg work! Even if people have noticed the different between Ginny and my interactions, it would cause trouble if it looked like we got too cozy so quickly. As well as her brothers being completely on board with me dating their sister."
Ron chuckled. "Alright, that does make sense mate. I can be your supporter. I've made it known that I would prefer you dating her than anyone else. Likely why Dean went for her, know I think on it."
Ginny frowned at that, but Harry was not sure if that was meant for Ron or the past Dean.
"Harry, you do realize if we are going to oppose your taking our sister to the ball," Fred and Geroge grinned at each other. "That means you are in for the king of all pranks."
Harry sighed. "I know. I leave myself at your mercy, oh kings of pranks."
Ginny spoke up. "I'm only going to say this once. If your prank leaves anything permanent on my husband, I will inflict that back on you both, tenfold."
Both twins gulped as they got the Mrs. Weasley look from their sister.
"Nothing permanent, understood." Fred sweated.
George wrapped an arm around Harry's shoulders. "Hurt my favorite brother-in-law? Never."
"I'm your only brother-in-law." Harry reminded him.
"Are you?" George teased.
Ginny stomped on his foot. Angelina laughed so hard, Harry thought she would double over.
"Anyways, time to get to work."
*A-Weasley-Redo*
The rest of November passed quickly, and it was time for the champions to find dates and for them to learn to dance. Harry had a step up this time, given that the Weasley brothers had forced him to learn to dance properly before his wedding to Ginny. He was thankful when he had to spend far less time for McGonagall than his fellow Fourth years. Now came the difficult bit.
Harry approached Ginny as she and her classmates were leaving Charms. He saw Luna gliding along at Ginny's side, talking animatedly about her new friend, Ron. Harry was glad his fellow Shining Stars were reconnecting with their partners.
"Hey, Ginny." Harry said, doing his best to sound nervous as he approached her.
"Hi, Harry." Ginny was doing her best to appear to be the shy little girl she was supposed to be.
"So, champions are supposed to bring a date to the Yule Ball…" He started, trying to wrack his brains about the few times he had tried to ask a girl out. Things were so much easier when you had a steady partner. "I was wondering if you would like to go. With me, that is."
Ginny gave him the briefest of nods to show he was doing fine before she blushed. He wondered how she did that one command. Even after being together with her for some time, she still surprised him. He loved that about her.
"Well, I would love that Harry," Ginny played with a lock of her hair. "If you're sure you want to go with me."
Harry felt himself blush as well. "Honestly, when they said I had to ask a girl out, I was freaking out because I never really stopped to think about stuff like that. Between one crisis and another."
He really hoped this show they were giving was believable. He was never good at reading the faces of others.
"You mean being between life-threatening situations!" Ginny scolded but with little heat in it. "Yes, I can imagine. I've known you for two years now, after all."
Harry nodded. "Right. And when I thought about me dancing with someone, it felt wrong to just ask anyone. But when I thought of asking you, I don't know. It just felt right."
Ginny gave him that hard look she had right before they kissed for the first time. "Good answer, Potter." She allowed a little more confidence in her voice. "I'll be ready an hour before. See you later, Harry."
She walked off with her friends who all started giggling and chattering as they walked away. Luna walked up to him.
"It must suck, having to ask out your wife all over again."
Harry sighed. "You can say that… Luna?" Harry looked over at her and she was humming to herself. "How…"
She put a finger on his lips and walked away. "I saw your wedding in a dream." She said happily. "Thanks for inviting me to it. It was a lovely venue. Can't wait for us to become friends, Harry."
Harry watched her walk away. "We could be friends now, if you wanted." He called but there was no response. Apparently, Luna was not one to break the flow of time, at least not for him.
*A-Weasley-Redo*
The news that Harry Potter was taking Ginny Weasley to the Yule Ball spread like wildfire. Ginny was glad this was pre-chosen one era. No one was trying to unseat her as Harry's date, more whispering about the fact that Harry stayed with her parents on holidays. She wouldn't have cared even if she and Harry hadn't already been married. They were careful to avoid each other for the most part, though they did have a few public cute moments, that she and Hermoine had engineered.
She was surprised at how uninterested the fake Moody was with the change to the timeline. They were all worried that this shift would cause the Death Eater to act out and cause a shift in the chain of events, but instead he seemed to approve of Harry's getting the date out of the way early.
"Perhaps he was worried last time that you would get kicked out for not getting a date so soon." Fleur suggested as she and Harry walked through the grounds. "I wish Bill was coming to be my date."
Harry felt sorry for Fleur. "I'm sorry. I wish we could get him here for that too."
She smiled. "Well, Angelina is going to let me borrow George for the first dance. I can say I felt unwell after. So many loving couples in one room can sometimes overwhelm a part Veela."
Harry nodded. "Good plan. Maybe have George say something like 'I can introduce you to my other brothers if they come to any more events' or something."
Fleur smiled at him. "We should do that… wait." She flicked her wand and there was a burst of red light that went into the bushes. "We have our spells up, right?" She asked him.
He nodded but checked anyways. Both the concealment and Mufflatio were intact still. However, it was clear someone was watching them from the bushes.
Harry moved them aside to see a stunned Barty Crouch Jr, still in disguise as Moody. Fleur approached, a hard look on her face. "What do we do now?"
Harry considered it. "Hermoine is good at memory charms. We can always release him after adjusting his memories if needed. But, I'm wondering if we even need him now."
"Let's take him to Dumbledore and see what we can do with him," Fleur stated.
Harry flicked his wand at Crouch and suspended him within the concealment charm and levitated him off to the Headmaster.
A/N: And sorry this update was later than the others. We are back and will be doing the Yule Ball and likely the second task in December. See you then!