Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

Harry Potter and the Year that Changed Everything

By fbline

Chapter Twenty-Five: Unexpected Guests

On the day of their respective parties the boys made their way to The Hog's Head (Fred and George had taken advantage of the good deal on liquor and even convinced Aberforth to clean up the place since they were paying top galleon for the night), while the ladies traveled to The Three Broomsticks. Madam Rosemerta offered them her hospitality gratis, as long as she was allowed to watch the show. Tome, the barkeep at The Leaky Cauldron had been upset at first that neither group had considered his establishment but was more than adequately consoled by the spike in business he experienced due to both Hogsmeade watering holes being closed for the evening. The place hadn't been so full since Oliver Cromwell's time.

The Hog's Head

Harry

Neville and Ron shouldn't be drinking so much. Hangover Helper potions only do so much, they'll still feel like shit in the morning. What if Voldemort attacked right now? What is he up to, anyway? Where are the Death Eaters hiding?

"Ready to see what they've been hiding from us, Harry?"

"Yes. The longer the wait, the more anxious I become."

"That's only natural, mate. Looking forward to it?"

"I don't know. I just want to get on with it, you know? It just gets harder and harder as time goes on."

"Whoa, too much information, Harry. Just hold on for a bit longer, ok?"

"It's going to be messy."

"Uh, yeah, I'm going to send the girls in now before it's too late."

"Girls?"

Harry snapped out of his stupor to find Fred Weasley looking at him with a mixture of fear and disgust on his face. Running the conversation he had believed they had been having through his mind the quickly understood why.

"Fred, mate, I'm sorry. My mind was a million miles away. Enough of that, though. Bring on the women."

Fred, knowing that Harry had more on his plate than Hagrid at Christmas, smiled kindly at his friend.

"No worries, Harry. We all know what kind of stress that you're under. Now, to add to that pressure, may I present to you your entertainment for the evening... Alicia and Angelina!"

Fred stepped to the side of Harry and motioned with his hands for him to sit down. As soon as his backside had hit the seat, two figures approached him clad in Gryffindor Quidditch robes. Both girls were smiling in a way that made Harry's heart rate speed up.

"Hey, Alicia. Hey, Angelina. I like the robes."

Angelina looked towards Alicia before turning her attention back to her other former teammate.

"Glad you like them, Harry. It's a shame we won't be wearing them long. In fact, I think it's getting a little warm in here, don't you, Alicia?"

Oh, boy. There's that smile again.

"It is getting awfully... hot, in here. I think we should make ourselves more comfortable. I'm sure Harry won't mind."

Two robes hit the floor. Two eyes widened. Two girls felt empowered by the fact that they could make Harry Potter speechless. If they'd had any reservations about doing this before, they were gone now.

"That's much better, Alicia. Now, since we're both comfortable, I think we should help Harry get more comfortable. His lap looks awfully lonely, don't you think?"

The shorter girl nodded.

"It sure does, Angelina. Maybe if we sit on it we can tell him what we want for Christmas."

Angelina hungrily eyed her prey.

"Ooh, yes. I bet if we sit there long enough we might get it, too."

Both girls approached Harry like lions might approach a wounded gazelle.

"Uh, girls, I... um... I love Luna, and..."

Alicia placed a finger atop Harry's slightly quivering lips.

"Don't worry, Harry. We aren't going to try and seduce you. We'll dance around, you can enjoy yourself, and then you'll get married. You deserve some stress relief. Angelina and I care about you and want to help in any way we can. Besides, this kind of makes us even."

Harry's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?"

Angelina laughed.

"It's tradition for the female members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team to have a peek at the boys after the last game of the season. We've seen your bits, so now you get to see ours."

Harry was shocked.

"You mean you girls have seen all us blokes naked every year? Does McGonagall know about this?"

Alicia sat on Harry's lap facing him. All conscious thought was immediately driven from his brain.

"Who do you think started the tradition?"

This statement would normally have caused Harry a great amount of distress. Fortunately, he was already focused on something else. Two of them, actually.

Neville

What the hell am I doing? I shouldn't be drinking, but I am. I shouldn't be here to see naked ladies who aren't Ginny, but I am. And I definitely shouldn't be having a good time, but, you know what? I really am!

Gran would die if she knew I was doing this. She was pissed enough when she found all those magazines under my bed. How was I supposed to know that dad did the same thing? You know, Seamus was right, Guinness does taste better than butterbeer after half a dozen or so. How do they get the shamrock shape on the foam? I think I'm getting drunk now.

"You want to be careful, Neville, that stuff will sneak up on you. Actually, it looks like it has overtaken you. Put down the pint and come with me, eh? You'll want what's left of your wits about you for this, I promise you."

George Weasley threw a companionable arm across Neville's shoulder and directed him towards a chair. Depositing the slightly tipsy wizard into it, he then made a waving gesture with both hands to the waiting witches behind them.

"I think he's ready now, ladies. You might want to get to him before he starts drooling for the wrong reasons."

Neville looked up to see two very different body types before him. The taller girl had coal black hair and a very athletic build. The other girl, however, had shorter blonde hair and pigtails. In his mind Neville made a mental note to suggest to Ginny to try pigtails sometime. Soon. The girl also had a more rounded figure than the other girl. Neville decided that he rather liked curves. This caused him to think of Ginny's current petite figure and what her mother's was like. He greatly hoped now that she would take after her. Then, realizing he was putting far too much thought into his future mother-in-law's body, he refocused his attention on the two scantily clad women before him.

"Cho, Hannah, are you sure you've got the right guy? I would think you'd have wanted to dance for Harry."

Cho looked over at her partner and grinned.

"Actually, we both picked you to dance for personally."

Neville sobered immediately.

"You... you did?"

Hannah stood behind Neville and whispered huskily in his ear.

"Oh, yes. Everyone knows about Harry. Ron's alright if you like tall and lanky gingers. But, of the three of you, you're the one who's a bit of a mystery. You've changed a lot since first year, Neville. Changed in a good way. Ginny might be getting you for keeps but, just for tonight, Cho and I have you all to ourselves."

Neville felt Hannah's warm breath on his neck and failed to suppress a shiver the entire length of his body. As the temperature in the seemed to rise for him, along with other things, the two causes of his predicament smiled at the obvious effect they were having on him. It was at this time that Cho began to tie his hands to the back of his chair.

"The only rule for the night is that you can't touch us, Neville. Neither of us want Ginny coming after us. There is, however, nothing stopping us from touching you..."

Neville suddenly felt something against the back of his head. It felt like the most comfortable pillow he'd ever laid his head upon.

Wait, that's not a pillow. OH-MY-GOD! Ginny is going to kill me. Wow, I think I can hear the ocean.

Ron

Ah, firewhiskey. If you were a woman I would so want to get in your pants. If you had pants. Anyway, I'd want to get inside you. Instead of you getting inside me. Ha, you're inside me. I guess that makes me the girl in this relationship. I wonder if you can get pregnant from firewhiskey? I remember dad saying once that Ogden's was responsible for mum getting pregnant with Bill, but I'm not sure what he meant by that. Hey, there's Forge... or is it Gred... no, George... or Ringo..."

"Hey... brother type person!"

George chuckled at the sight of his nearly legless brother.

"Hey yourself, Ronniekins. I see you've found the hooch."

Ron's head whipped around in confusion.

"What, Hooch is here? What the hell did you invite her for? I don't want to see her naked! I'm not into nec... necro... numerology."

George nearly fell over laughing.

"I don't think you got the right word there. Mind you, it would have made Arithmancy more interesting if you were right, wouldn't it? Say, why don't you take a break from executing the few brain cells you actually have and sit down over here. You've got some friends who want to show you something."

Ron sat down heavily in the chair he was offered and noticed that there was a bright light pointed directly at him.

"Oi, what's the spotlight for? Did someone lose something?"

"Not yet, but we will soon."

Ron saw two angels approaching him. The light coming from behind them gave them an otherworldly glow. It also managed to outline their generous features spectacularly.

Well, if it's my time I guess I'm ready to go. Wait a minute, that cleavage looks familiar.

"You might want to close your mouth, Ron. We haven't even started our routine yet."

Ron's mouth remained agape.

"Lavender? Susan? How did the two of you end up dancing for me? Not that I'm complaining, of course."

Lavender slowly made her way over to stand in front of Ron and leaned over to whisper in his left ear. From his seated position he was able to get a very clear view of Lavender's most prominent attributes.

"It's pretty obvious you're a 'breast man', Ron. Hermione has a terrific rack on her. Susan and I are both double D, too. We couldn't get our hair curly like hers, though. So, instead, we decided to go for something completely different."

Ron tore his eyes away from Lavender's twin globes of flesh to inspect the top of her head.

"What do you mean? Your hair is the same as it always is."

Susan sauntered over to lean in front of Ron in order to whisper in his right ear. Once again he was treated to an excellent view of ample cleavage.

"That's not what she meant, Ron."

A few minutes later, Ron found out what she meant. It would be months before he could look a bald wizard in the eye again.

The Three Broomsticks

Ginny

All right, let's get this sausage fest underway. I've got a good buzz going, no brothers around, and I've convinced myself that Neville is covering his eyes with both hands at his party. That better be what his hands are covering. Hey, there's Padma.

"Hey, Ginny. Ready to see some poultry?"

Ginny laughed at the oblique reference to the male anatomy.

"You know it, Padma. Bring on the blokes!"

Padma stepped aside to let the two boys in question step forward. Ginny immediately felt cheated.

"Wait a minute, how did I end up getting Dean as one of mine? I've already seen what's he's got!"

Dean grimaced at the memory of that particular event.

"True, but as I recall you didn't get much of a view. I mostly remember you running the other way while things started flying about. Don't worry, I've learned my lesson. I'm only here for display purposes. I'm not expecting you to try the product out."

Ginny couldn't help but smile. Dean was making his lad sound like a gadget for the kitchen.

That would make cooking more exciting. I wonder if Neville has any... culinary interests.

"Ok, Dean can stay, but Finch-Fletchley? Are you sure about this, Justin? You never struck me as the stripper type. I would have thought you'd have had enough of big snakes by now."

Justin laughed sarcastically.

"Very funny, Ginny. I volunteered so that at least one of you girls would get a treat."

Ginny smiled at the characteristically pompous comment from the curly haired Muggle-born wizard.

"A treat, eh? Those are pretty big words from a Hufflepuff, but can you back them up?"

Dustin opened his robe.

"I guess you can."

Hermione

Why did I ever agree to this? Ginny has managed to drink her weight in firewhiskey and it's all I can do to keep Luna away from the stuff. Alcohol is such a strange thing. It makes Ginny giggle like an idiot and turns Luna into Voldemort's less pleasant sister. All it seems to do for me is make me tired. And forgetful. I think. Doesn't it? Where the hell am I?"

"Having a good time there, Hermione?"

Ah, it's one of the twin people that are dating the other twin people. Will their children be twins? How will they be able to tell which ones belong to which one?

"Hey, there! Yes, I'm having a good time. What's up next, pudding?"

Parvarti chuckled at the slightly impaired Hermione before her. It was a very rare thing to see her loose like this. The effect made her seem more... human.

"Something like that. Are you ready to meet your dancers for the night?"

Parvarti ushered Hermione to a chair and managed to get the empty glass from her hand in the process.

"Thank you, Pad... var... ma. Who's going to be dancing? I hope it's not Ron. He can't dance to save his life. Harry can't either, you know. Isn't it strange how they can ride a broom so well but can't dance worth a damn? Oh, hey, I know these guys!"

Hermione's attention shifted from Parvarti to the two males that now stood before her. Even in her addled state she was, eventually, able to come up with their names.

"Lee Jordan and Michael Corner? How did the two of you get roped into this?"

Lee smiled.

"Well, in my case, it was Angelina. She asked me for a favor and I agreed before she told me what it was. I always was a sucker for that girl."

Michael nodded in agreement.

"I got drafted, too. Ginny originally asked me about it and I told her I'd have to think about it. I almost turned her down on the spot. I figured Cho wouldn't let me. When I asked her about it she told me I could do as I pleased. I thought she was being unusually calm about it until she informed me that she was dancing, too. That made up my mind for me. If she could do it, so could I!"

Hermione laughed. Guys were so easy to manipulate.

"Well, I'm glad you're both here. Now, enough chit-chat, let's see some skin!"

And she did. Quite a lot, actually.

Luna

I don't see why Ginny and Hermione are so adamant about me not having anything harder to drink than butterbeer. I don't recall anything unusual happening the last time I had a drink. Of course, now that I think about it, I do seem to have gaps of time I don't remember after I drink. I wonder if spirits have the same effect on Harry? I may have to buy him some. It would be kind of nice to know my way around the castle before I live in it. Oh, look, Seamus and Terry are coming over to see me. I wonder why they are wearing bow ties with no shirts? That's rather silly. Maybe it's supposed to be sexy. Would I look sexier if I wore my Ravenclaw scarf with no top on? Professor Snape didn't seem to think so. He took points off. It's not my fault it was laundry day.

"Hey, Luna. Seamus and I are your dancers for the evening. Before we start, I just wanted to let you know how sorry I am about the way some of the girls treated you the last couple years."

Luna smiled sweetly at him.

"That's all right, Terry. Those girls just didn't understand me. Of course, it wasn't entirely their fault. Nargles get the most attention during the holidays, but they can get up to mischief any time of the year."

Terry felt relieved. He had been concerned that Luna may have held a grudge against members of her house due to their treatment of her over the years. He wasn't real clear on her reasoning for the unfair actions, but if it got them off the hook he was happy.

"The nargles aren't entirely at fault either, of course. Menstrual blood tends to make them act more cruel than normal. Being an all female dorm, well, it's a veritable vampire's buffet."

Terry now sort of wished Luna had held a grudge. It would have been easier on his stomach. Seamus realized he hadn't drank nearly enough Guinness and decided to move things along.

"Uh, yeah, well, let's get this show on the road, eh? Try not to faint when I release my Wild Irish Rover, here."

Seamus then tore off his shorts to reveal what nature had given him. Luna took a long look before meeting his expectant gaze.

"Seamus, I do hope you aren't an elephant animagus."

Seamus didn't follow.

"Why's that?"

The blonde girl pointed at the now exposed area of the Irishman.

"You'd starve to death with that thing."

The Hog's Head

The girls had all left now. Everything had gone fairly well, really. The three guests of honor had enjoyed themselves and no lines had been crossed. As Fred and George went to buy another round of drinks, the door to the dimly lit pub opened to reveal another half dozen revelers. George cursed his luck that they would all have to arrive just as it was his round.

"Hey, fellows! We all made sure to come straight here after our jobs were done. None of us fancied having to answer to you three."

The six DA members who had been the girl's entertainment for the evening had come to join the party. For one, they could all use a drink. More importantly, however, they wanted to make sure the three soon-to-be grooms knew that nothing untoward had happened. They had seen them in action and knew better than to anger them.

Ron, the drunkest of the trio, greeted the new arrivals as if he hadn't seen them in years.

"HEY! It's the guys! Come and sit down! Have a drink! Hell, have two of them! Michael, come here buddy!"

Ron grabbed Micheal by the shoulders. Being a good bit taller than the Ravenclaw, Ron's enthusiasm nearly brought the both of them crashing to the ground.

"Michael, listen, I know I gave you hell when you were dating Ginny, but I want you to know that it's all in the past. You're a good bloke, and I hope you and Cho make a go of it. Try not to mention Cedric. She gets a bit weepy about that, just ask Harry."

Terry, seeing his friend's signal for help, came over to extricate him from Ron's grip.

"Well, Michael and I better head out. Thanks for the drink."

The two wizards bolted through the door of the pub and disappeared into the night.

Dean Thomas laughed at the two wizards being ran off by Ron.

No wonder they weren't in Gryffindor if they could get scared off that easy. What a pair of tulips.

Turning around, his own Gryffindor courage suddenly seemed to escape him.

"Oh, uh, hey, Neville."

When Dean and Neville first walked through the doors of Hogwarts Dean towered over his fellow Gryffindor. Now, however, the two could look one another straight in the eyes. Dean couldn't quite bring himself to do that at the moment, though.

"Hello, Dean. Did Ginny have a good time tonight?"

Sweat begin to bead on Dean's forehead. He would have much rather been facing Umbridge again than Neville.

"Uh, yes, I mean, no, I mean... I don't know. Maybe. I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Neville held on to his stony expression for another moment before smiling and clapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Relax, Dean. I know you wouldn't do anything. Not after what happened the last time. I was there, remember? I was the one you had check your underwear drawer for a week afterward to check for any remaining bats. Ginny has forgiven you, and so have I.

Dean flinched when Neville extended his hand to him. Realizing that the gesture was sincere, he firmly shook it. Both boys felt better immediately.

Harry smiled at the two friends making amends. A sudden thought crossed his mind.

"Wait, what about Luna? She wasn't drinking, was she?"

Seamus laughed.

"No, she wasn't drinking anything stronger than butterbeer. Mind you, the other two lasses were doing a fine job of it."

The Three Broomsticks

Madam Rosemerta was clearing the empty bottles from the tables. She'd ended up selling more firewhiskey tonight that she had during the last World Cup party. She made a mental note to get her next supply order in before Aberforth. Just because he was a Dumbledore he always seemed to think his order should come first. She'd always hated him for that. And he never had done right by that goat, even after all they had been through.

"Thanks for everything, Rosemerta. I think everyone had a memorable night. Well, everyone that will be capable of remembering tonight."

Padma had been helping Rosemerta clear up the place while her sister kept on eye on the remaining guests. As she was depositing another dozen butterbeer bottles into the recycling cauldron the front door opened to reveal the starry night outside.

"I hope we haven't missed last call, because we could all do with a drink."

The girls who had been dancing at the bachelor party came in and joined the others at the large round table they were all sitting at. Parvarti summoned enough chairs for them all to sit down.

"So, how did it go? Were the boys having fun?"

Angelina sat down next to Ginny and took a sip of Ogden's.

"They seemed to be enjoying themselves. I think Fred and George were, too. I caught them both watching me a few times. I'm not sure why, both of them should remember what I've got to offer."

Ginny nearly choked on her coffee. Caffeine seemed to enhance the effect of sobering potions. Needless to say, she and Hermione were both on their third cups. Neither of them wanted to face the wrath of Molly Weasley by being noticeably hung over on their wedding day.

"Both of them? I thought you told me you'd lost your virginity to Fred."

Angelina smiled.

"I did, the night of the Yule Ball, actually. We dated for a while after that before he started dating Padma. We had a mutual breakup, but it still hurt. George and I started hanging around together and he listened to me. After a few weeks he went from a shoulder to cry on to a body to help me feel wanted again. He convinced me that I was still attractive and a good person. We were never really dating, so by the time he started going out with Parvarti I was already involved with Lee. To be honest, George was the one that convinced me to give Lee a chance. I'll always care about Fred and George, but we all make better friends than lovers."

Ginny shook her head.

"I can't believe you slept with both of them. You're as bad as Lavender."

Lavender, who was sitting next to Hermione at the time, loudly cleared her throat.

"Uh, excuse me, I'm sitting right here, you know."

Instead of being embarrassed, Ginny merely shrugged.

"Yeah, I know. It just sounded like something you'd do. You'd probably take them both at the same time, though."

A few of the girls laughed. Lavender didn't.

"Ginny, do you think all of the rumors about me are true?"

Ginny took another sip of her black coffee.

"No, of course not. Not all of them. I don't believe that you've slept with any of the teachers. Well, none of the current ones. I don't think you've made it through all the Quidditch team members, either. Other than that, well, yeah, I think most of them are true."

Tears came to Lavender's eyes. None of the girls present could remember seeing her sad before. It didn't seem natural.

"For your information, not that it is any of your business, I've only been with one person. Ever. I'm sorry if that destroys your image of me as the school slut."

Everyone fell silent, even Rosemerta. Ginny half expected Lavender to laugh and say it was all a joke. She didn't. Instead, tears continued sliding down her now much more vulnerable looking face.

"Oh my god. I'm... I'm sorry, Lavender. I just... well... everybody..."

Ginny's voice trailed off. What was there to say?

"Seamus doesn't deserve your tears, you know."

All eyes moved to look at Luna. Lavender wiped her cheeks and sniffed.

"Luna, how do you know about that? Did he tell you?"

Luna gave the older girl a sympathetic smile.

"No, not directly. When people think you're crazy they tend to ignore your presence. I heard him bragging the morning after the Yule Ball. He was talking to Dean at the time. He was telling him that you jumped him after the dance, and that the two of you had sex three times that night and twice the next morning before breakfast."

Lavender's face hardened

"He's a fucking liar! He told me he loved me! He said I was beautiful! He said I was special! He made me believe that he was different from the other boys who just wanted sex. He promised me what happened would just be between us, and that he'd be my boyfriend. We had sex once. It took all of about three minutes and then he fell asleep. We were in the carriage house. When I woke up a few hours later he was gone. He didn't even leave his jacket behind that we'd used as a blanket. I hope my blood stained it."

Ginny, despite her own reputation for knowledge of the carnal arts, didn't follow.

"Why would your blood be on his jacket? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Lavender's face flushed a deep red.

"He took my virginity, Ginny! He laid me down on his jacket in the carriage and took my virginity! I had never been with anyone before, and I haven't been with anyone since. I'm sorry if I'm not the dirty slut you thought I was."

Everyone went silent again. How could they have been so wrong about her? They all began to realize that they hadn't been very good friends to the vulnerable girl that they thought they knew so well.

Ginny felt tears slide down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Lavender. I should never have listened to what other people said about you. I haven't been a good friend to you, but I'd like that to change... if you'll let me."

Lavender wiped her own tears away and gave the girl a weak smile.

"Of course I will. I'm not made at you, or anyone else. I guess acting flirtatious all the time didn't help my reputation, either. The truth is that I do it as a coping mechanism. I get jealous seeing people in relationships all around me so I flirt with boys so that I can get their attention, instead. Like you three, for example. You're going to be getting married to three great guys. I wish I could trade places with any of you, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one here that feels that way."

All the other girls in attendance murmured their agreement.

"It's no secret that I had a crush on Neville. Truthfully, I guess I still do. The important thing is that tonight has proven to all of us that those three men love you three ladies more than anything else in this world. Furthermore, tonight has also proven that we all have a close bond with one another. The brutal reality is that we might not all come out of this war alive, so we have to appreciate the time we have together now. We all just have to take things one day at a time and rely on one another. If we can do that, I reckon we can thrash those death eating skrewt fuckers!"

Everyone looked to Hannah and felt empowered by her speech. They were a little surprised to hear such a stirring speech come from the usually quiet Scottish blonde. Most chalked it up to the nearly empty tankard of Guinness in her hand. Still, it was a very moving oration.

Later: At The Burrow

The boys had returned from their evening of reasonably civilized debauchery and went immediately to bed. Even with the sobering potions they had all taken they still felt the tranquilizing effects of the alcohol that had been consumed. They would still have a headache in the morning, but nothing like the brain splitter that they would have had otherwise.

The girls, however, had other plans. Making sure that boys were asleep, they huddled together outside Ron's bedroom door.

"Are you sure about this, Ginny?"

"There's no backing out now, Hermione. Besides, we've done what we were supposed to and been good girls, right? Haven't we, Luna?"

The blonde member of the trio sighed.

"Yes, I have. Harry and I haven't done anything to jeopardize my purity. No matter how hard I tried."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Quiet down, Luna. So, Ginny, how does this work?"

Ginny held in her hand what appeared to be a small metal box with a cloth tape measure inside.

"From what Parvarti said it's from the Weasley Wizard Wheezes Adult Catalog. You wait until a bloke you're interested in falls asleep, activate the box, and this will measure the guys manhood. It's even supposed to print something out about it, kind of like a naughty fortune cookie. If nothing else it should be good for a laugh, right? Who wants to go first? Hermione?"

Hermione suddenly looked fearful.

"Oh, no, I don't think that..."

Ginny cut her off by coughing in a way that sounded remarkably like someone yelling the word 'prude'.

Hermione grabbed the tape measure.

"All right, fine. I'll go first."

Hermione tapped her wand onto the top of the metal box and watched as the tape measure slid under the bedroom door. After a few seconds the tape returned to its holder and a small slip of paper sprouted from the box. Ginny immediately tried to read the message over her shoulder.

"Well, what does it say?"

Hermione, unwisely failing to read the note to herself first, proceeded to read the slip aloud.

"Well, maybe he has a great personality."

Luna and Ginny burst into a fit of giggles. Hermione's face turned bright pink as she thrust the box back into the redhead's hands.

"Oh, shut up! It's obvious that the messages are supposed to be like that since it's a joke. I'm sure Ron has nothing to be embarrassed by."

This only caused Ginny to laugh harder.

"You forget that I've grown up with him, Hermione. You're right, though. He doesn't have enough to be embarrassed about."

Ginny and Luna continued to laugh as Hermione frowned.

"Ok, ok, fun time is over. It's your turn, Ginny. Let's see what you've got in store for you."

Ginny took hold of the box and tapped it in the same manner Hermione had. Just as it had before the tape unrolled, disappeared, and then returned. She then snapped the message up as soon as it appeared and read it aloud.

"There's nothing wrong with average. It could be worse, you could be the last person who used this."

Luna and Ginny dissolved into giggles yet again. Even Hermione couldn't help but chuckle this time. Truth be told, she didn't really care what size Ron was. She already loved the way he made her feel inside.

Ginny now passed the tape to Luna.

"Luna, it's your turn. I must confess that I'm more than a little interested with this one myself."

Hermione said nothing. At one time she would have been just as interested as Ginny. Of course, that was before she found out they were siblings. There was always a snag.

Luna took the box from Ginny and smiled her usual serene smile.

"Well, here goes nothing."

Luna tapped the box and they all watched as it slithered out of sight. Instead of coming back immediately, however, it seemed to be taking a much longer time before it finally returned. Luna then took the slip of paper and, as the other two done before, read it aloud.

"Hold on a second."

Ginny and Hermione frowned.

"What?"

"Hold on a second."

Hermione's eyes narrowed.

"Now see here, Luna. Ginny and I both read ours, so you have to read yours. Now."

Before Luna could explain that she actually had been reading hers, two figures stepped out of the fireplace floo. Spinning around to defend themselves from possible attack, they instead came face to face with...

"Parvarti, Padma, what are you doing here?"

The two girls looked around at the trio and noticed who was in current possession of the box.

"Luna, were you the last one to use the tape?"

Luna nodded.

"Yes, it was me. I was following the message it gave me when you arrived."

Parvarti took the box from Luna's hand and tapped it in a different area than the others had. A different colored slip of paper came out and the twins both gasped. After they were able to close their mouths again, both girls patted Luna on the back and gave her matching looks of both admiration and sympathy.

"It's a mixed blessing, Luna. You might want to get some some pain relieving potions to be safe. Oh, and you'll probably want to avoid flying a broom for a while, too. Other than that... wow."

The two girls then reentered the floo and were gone, taking the box with them. Ginny and Hermione turned back towards Luna with looks of dawning realization on their faces.

"I'm sure you'll be fine, Luna. Nature has a way of making things work."

Luna, shockingly enough, did seem worried. However, at Hermione's words of encouragement the blonde managed a smile.

"I'm sure you're right. I just wish nature would have given me giant hips like yours. I'm sure I could handle anything with those."

The smile vanished from Hermione's face.

"On second thought, I hope my brother splits you in half."

Yes, Luna's penchant for telling the blunt truth was not always a good thing. The girls all went to bed after that.

The next morning dawned brightly on the inhabitants of the Burrow. It would have been a splendid day to laze in the suns warm rays and relax.

Fat chance of that, though. Today was the day of the wedding of the century, and Molly Weasley had the entire thing planned down to the minute.

Everyone had a job to do, and everyone was doing it. Neville couldn't help but think that if he fell down he wouldn't have the time to spare in getting up again. It was just as he was finishing up making sure that all the roses for the occasion had been magically de-thorned that he heard Harry calling for him.

"Can't it wait a minute, Harry? I've still got to work on the sunflowers Luna wanted. Have you ever tried to mix sunflowers and roses? How in the hell am I supposed to make a bouquet out of that?"

Harry laughed.

"Sorry about that, Neville. Still, it could have been worse, at least I was able to talk her out of using carrots. She said that they would help ward off the blibbering humdingers. Apparently they have a phobia towards beta carotene. Anyway, never mind, I've got two wedding crashers here that claim to know you."

Neville shook the petals from his robes and frowned.

"I don't have time, Harry. I sent invitations to everyone I know. If they don't have one they'll have to talk to Mrs. Weasley. All my family is already here."

"Not all of us, honey."

Neville's head turned so quickly he heard it crack. He had heard that voice before. Usually the words they spoke were gibberish. Never had he heard the voice speak an entire sentence. The voice had always made him feel sad. It had always been a reminder of what could have been, what should have been. As he stared at the source of the voice his dreams and realities merged. Her face was as he always remembered, except that now the eyes were focused and warm. The man standing beside her was a near replica of himself. He hadn't noticed that before, although his grandmother had often remarked on it. He saw it now.

"Mum? Dad?"