Relations, Revelations

Sending review love to:
BacardiBob - You\'re just saying that so you\'ll get a big wet snog too :-D Glad you\'re enjoying the story!
Carmen - aah, my faithful reviewer :-D you\'re so cool

So yeah, next chapter :-D It\'s hard to believe all this has happened in less than a week... Harry and Sev had their little tiff in class on Thursday, Harry and his clan had their little chat in the common room on Friday, the quidditch game and final battle took place on Sunday, now here we are on Monday morning after the big party. Everyone\'s shagging, snogging, and having a good ol\' time. But fun is fleeting! Please observe as I throw a wrench into the works and drop you at a cliffhanger!!!

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*Chapter 21 – Chillin’*

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Fred, George, and Hermione passed Harry on their way down from their house carrying their breakfast plates. They politely returned his nod, but noted that he seemed a bit preoccupied.

The first redhead asked the second, “What’s up with Harry?”

“No idea. Maybe Ron knows something,” the second replied.

“Oi, Ron. Got a spot of lawn for us?” Fred inquired.

“Yeah. Pop a squat. Angie leave?”

“She has practice this morning.”

“Phera, did you get your poster to her?” Ron asked girlgirlfriend.

“Yup, I left it rolled up by the door with her name on it, and it was gone last time I checked.”

“So where was Harry going?” Hermione sat down between her boyfriend and best friend.

“He got a message from the Ministry this morning. He and Snape had to go down there for a meeting of some sort.”

She took a thoughtful bite of her strawberry. George looked on with desire. Hermione caught his eye and grinned, then took another very deliberate bite.

“Were Angie and I that bad when we got together?” Fred asked his sister.

“No.” Ginny grinned.

“That’s because you thought she was a guy for the first five years you knew her,” George replied, feeding his girlfriend a slice of melon.

Fred rolled his eyes and Sephera grinned.

Sephera posed a question to the group at large. “So what’s everyone doing today?”

“I think Mione and I wanted to go into Diagon Alley, see what’s shakin’ over there. You’re all welcome to join us.”

Everyone nodded in the affirmative.

“Yeah, we’d better check on the shop too. We left it rather quickly on Saturday. Think we should close for the week?”

“Makes sense. Mum’ll want us home. With dad as busy as he is, she’ll want some help planning the funeral.” George posed the unavoidable question. “Think anyone’s gotten a hold of Percy yet?”

“Doubt it. I’ll try to owl him from the Alley today. Anyone seen Bill since we left the pitch?” Ginny asked.

“He told me he was gonna go party with Fleur and her family.” Fred hung his head. “I’m sure he’ll be home later today. Probably wants to deal with this whole thing his own way.”

“Can’t blame him. He and Charlie were closer than the rest of us combined.” Ron grabbed his sister’s hand. She sprawled herself out on the lawn and put her head in his lap, grabbing Sephera’s hand in her free one. They sat like that for a few more minutes as Hermione and the twins finished their breakfast. When everyone was finished, they stood and went back into the house, deposited their plates in the kitchen, and got ready for the day ahead.

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“Do you guys mind if we go into Flourish and Blott’s? A new volume to ‘Potions and Poisons of the Modern Wizarding World’ came out last week. Professor Snape mentioned he contributed a few articles.”

“Yeah, sure. There were a few quidditch books I wanted to look up. That’s what, volume twelve?”

Hermione nodded to her boyfriend, and Sephera, Ron, Ginny, and Fred filed into the bookstore after them. The four redheads and the ebony-haired girl went straight for the ‘Games & Sports’ section, and Hermione made her way to ‘Potions.’ She breezed past ‘Alchemy: A Beginners Guide,’ ‘Boil, Trouble, & Toil,’ ‘Cauldrons For Every Brewer,’ ‘Lab Tools For Idiots’ and slowed when she got to ‘Potions: A Solution for Every Ailment.’

“P… Potions… Potions and… Potions and Poisons for Beginners… ah. Potions and Poisons of the Modern Wizarding World.” She skipped over volumes one through eleven, grabbed one of the many copies of twelve, and slid it out of its pile. Watching the pile for a moment, she waited for the pile above the book she pulled out to settle down. It rocked for a moment, and then cao reo rest on the lower books. She let out a sigh of relief. If there was one thing she hated about Flourish & Blott’s, it was the disorder. True, you could always find what you were looking for. True, none of the piles ever came crashing down. But dammit if they didn’t always look like they would.

George crept up behind Hermione and held a book in front of her.

“Quidditch: A Scientific Analysis of the Physics of the Game.”

“I thought you might like it. I know you’re not into quidditch, but you’re into the sciences. Maybe you could gain some understanding for the game through some technical analysis.”

“Aw, thank you George. I think I’ll take a look at that. I know how much the game means to you, and I’d really like to gain some understanding of it. That book could just very well be what I need.” She went to take the book from his hand, but he held it higher. She grabbed again, but he stret his his hand high above his hand and well out of her reach. He beamed, and she scowled.

“If you think I’m letting you pay for this, you’re nuts girlie.” George kissed her forehead. “I don’t wand you to waste five galleons on something I’m forcing on you. If you don’t like it, I’d hate to think you blew money on it.”

“Damn you.” She kept scowling. George kept grinning. Anyone who knows anything about being angry knows that grinning only serves to piss you off more. Hermione made another grab at the book. George held it behind his back. Dropping her potions book, she reached around him to grab it, but with his free hand, George grabbed her waist and began tickling her relentlessly.

“Dammit George! Give me the book!” Hermione wailed with laughter, her arms around him grabbing at the book, his right arm behind his back, his left arm at her waist. He placed the book on a high shelf and devoted all his attention to tickling the hell out of the girl before him. Noticing that he put the book away, Herm unw unwrapped her arms and began to use them in self-defense, pushing, wriggling, and hitting George on the chest with her tiny balled fists.

“You’re so horrible!” She tried desperately to maintain some control of the volume of her voice. Bookworms never screamed in libraries or bookshops.

“Yes, but you love it.” He kept tickling. The color of her face as she stifled screams and laughter matched the color of his hair. She finally gave up on her defense, and began retaliating. She mercilessly poked and prodded at his firm stomach, eliciting a “Whoa!” from her boyfriend. He let go of her just long enough for her to dart up the staircase to the second level. Defiantly, she stood at the top, hands on her hips, tongue sticking out from between her lips.

“Cute, but I win.” George took the quidditch and potions books and strolled to the cashier.

“You weasel!”

“That’s Weas-ley, love.” He pulled his coin purse out of his robes, paid for the books, and went back to the bottom of the stairs. Hermione still stood at the top, but her expression had changed from defiant to angry.

“You really are cute when you pout.” He held out the bag containing her books. She stomped down the stairs, stopping at the last one, and snatched it away. Maintaining her angry façade, planted a kiss square on his lips and grabbed the back of his head to deepen it. Finally pulling away, she grinned at him.

“And you’re a good acs.” s.”

“Thank you so much for the books. But you know I hate los” Sh” She brushed past him and walked out the door.

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The rest of the group was already waiting outside clutching their purchases.

“I’m gaggin’ for a Knickerbocker Glory.” Ginny twisted her face to match the agony of her craving.

“Me too. I want a caramel sundae. Anyone else for Florean Fortescue’s?” Fred asked. The group nodded eagerly.

“So what else is on the agenda?” Sephera asked as they made their way down the street.

“I wanted to go to the Magical Menagerie, see if we can get a cat for the shop,” Fred suggested. “We’ve been having a bit of a rodent problem lately. And it would be kind of nice to have a pet around.”

Ron scrunched up his nose at the idea. Last time they’d gotten a cat there, it turned out to be a total nightmare. But he had to admit, it had been right about Scabbers all along.

“I need to swing through Madam Malkins,” Sephera shrugged. “You just can’t find some of her stuff in San Francisco.”

“I got a great set of robes there last week. Blue with gre…” George froze. The rest of the group stopped behind him and looked up.


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A/N: See? Cliffie! I\'ll try my damndest to update by 11am pacific time on Tuesday. Review, or i\'ll push that back a few days :-D (im so evil...)