The Alcohol Chronicles

Rain pelted the windows with a little bit of hail as a storm raged outside. The storm had been going on all day and didn't look like it would be stopping anytime in the near future. Ginny sat in a chair by the window with her favorite quilt wrapped around her body.

Draco was asleep on the couch with the roaring fire in the fireplace to keep him warm. The couch was Draco's favorite napping place. In his sleep, Draco mumbled something and turned over onto his side.

Ginny smiled and looked back out the window to see that the wind had picked up. Across the street she saw a chair go rolling down the sidewalk with a little man chsing after it. Ginny chuckled and turned to look back at Draco, now noting that he was sucking his thumb in a childish manner.

The phone rang in the bedroom and Draco, still asleep, mumbled, "Mummy, make the bad sound stop."

Ginny stifled a laugh and walked quickly into the other room to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ginny, it's Hermione."

"Oh, hey, what are you up to?"

"Not much right now, but Harry and I had an idea...."

Ginny sat down on the bed and listened intently as Hermione told Ginny all about the idea that Harry had come up with. At some point Draco walked in and stood in the doorway watching Ginny's face light up in amusement.

"For once in his life, I think Harry has outdone himself. Tell him we're in," Ginny said as she finished the conversation. The two women said goodbye and Ginny hung up the phone.

"What was that all about?" Draco asked as Ginny walked up to him, running her hands up his chest. He shivered a little and bent down to place a few soft kisses along the side of Ginny's neck.

"Well if you keep that up, I won't have much of a voice left to tell you," Ginny said.

Draco smiled and lifted his head up away from her neck to meet Ginny's eyes. "What have you gotten me into?"

"US. What have I gotten US into."

"Well?"

Ginny ducked under his arm and walked into the living room to retake her seat by the window. She laughed when Draco came and sat on her lap, crushing her under his weight.

"Get off of me, you git," she said playfully.

"Not until you tell me what you've done."

"We're going to go camping," Ginny said as a loud crack of thunder rattled the windows.

Draco looked at Ginny as if she were the ghost of Christmas Past, come to remind him what a bad boy he had been the night before. And the night before that. But of course, that was a different story and his face broke out into a silly sort of grin that made even Ginny smile.

Two days later when the storms had passed through and the skies were clear of any bad weather, Ginny and Draco found themselves walking the steps to Harry's apartment. It was a day before they were scheduled to leave for their camping trip, and the children in them seemed to be taking over. Well, the child in Ginny anyway.

"Would you calm down?" Draco asked as Ginny knocked on the door to the apartment in the theme of her favorite muggle television show.

"Why should I?" Ginny pouted as she turned to give Draco a sad face.

"Oh, don't do that. You know I can't resist that." Draco cupped Ginny's face in his hands and leaned down, kissing her softly and sweetly. The door opened and Seamus stood there, looking at Ginny and Draco with disgust.

"You know, normally one wouldn't take the time to snog their girlfriend while waiting for someone else to answer the door," Seamus said as he turned to walk off.

"That's right, Seamus. We won't snog in front of the door. We'll just do it inside the apartment."

Draco picked Ginny up and carried her through the door, kissing her as they went along. Draco dropped Ginny on the couch and continued to cover her body with his own, still kissing furiously. About that time, Ron walked in and abruptly turned the other direction when he saw Ginny and Draco on the couch.

"Oh, come off it, Ron," Ginny yelled at Ron's retreating back.

Hermione came walking in the room with a piece of paper in her hands and the phone attached to her ear. She stood near the window and looked outside at the street below. Cho and the twins were getting out of a taxi with bags in their hands and smiles on their faces.

Hermione waved at George as he looked up to see her in the window. He waved back and blew her a kiss in mock-fashion. Hermione laughed and then handed the phone to Harry as he passed by. Immediately Harry picked up the conversation with the person on the other end of the line and went about his business.

Throught the front door walked in Fred with Cho walking next to him, their fingers intwined, and behind them was George, who kept giving his brother dirty looks behind his back. Cho dettached herself from Fred long enough to go and say hello to the other people in the room.

George walked over to Ron who was peering around the corner. He didn't want to walk in on another scene of Draco and Ginny on the couch.

"What are you hiding from?" George asked curiously.

"Last time I came out here Draco was having his way with our sister," Ron said when he saw that the coast was clear.

"I think Ginny is still a bit hacked off for last time. Maybe we owe her an apology," George said.

"We'll get to that when the time is right."

Harry hung up the phone and walked over to Hermione, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her close to him. He smiled devilishly and bent down, barely grazing her lips with his own before pulling away.

"Is everyone here?" Harry asked, surveying the room.

"I think so. Is everything in order?"

Harry nodded and then yelled to everyone else in the room, "I just got off the phone with the travel agent and we're booked for ten seats on a plane to the United States tomorrow afternoon."

"Why are we going the muggle way?" Ginny asked as she turned around to look at Harry.

"Because it's all part of the deal. We have to rent out all of our camping supplies and hire a guide, so the flight is included."

"This is gonna be expensive," Ron said with a frown.

"Not really. I've got most of it paid for, ou guys just need to chip in on the cost of the rental equipment," Harry said.

"I've never been camping before," Cho said excitedly. "What's it like?"

"Bugs," said Draco. "And wild animals that are just dying to eat you. You'll be lucky enough to come home with all of your body parts intact."

Cho let out a gasp of shock and tightened her grip on Fred's hand.

"Knowing us, we won't be sober enough to even know that wild animals exist!" The whole group laughed at Seamus's comment. Leave it to the Irish to believe that there is never a time when one shouldn't be drunk.

"Who are you kidding, Seamus?" Harry said with a laugh. "We're going camping. Not drinking."

Seamus muttered a 'sure', and then was quiet.

Four days later eight of them stood halfway up a mountain trail somewhere in the Rockies with Hermione and Ginny twenty feet behind them. It wass tenth time in the past two hours that the girls had needed to stop and rest.

Hermione pressed a hand to her back and sat up straight, stretching the tight and sore muscles. She moaned and gave a pleading look up to Harry who was already knowingly making his way down the trail to get to her.

Ginny on the other hand was drenching her face with a large bottle of drinking water from a self-filling bottomless canteen. Wizard camping supplies were a hard find, but they were worth the search it took to get them.

Draco followed suit behind Harry as they walked down the trail to get their women. The others further on up kept going with the guide leading them to where they were going.

"Can't you two walk at least five minutes without resting?" Draco asked with annoyance.

Harry cast a glare in Draco's direction for being so rude, but then softened up. "We'll carry you."

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other with surprised, yet happy smiles on their faces. Hermione was the first to stand and she jumped into Harry's arms happily. Ginny jumped into Draco's arms, and they all went up the hill.

The camping spot wasn't as far away as they had previously thought, but carrying Hermione was a bad idea in Harry's opinion, and he hated himself for even thinking of the idea in the first place. The looks that Draco kept giving him told him that Draco thought it was a bad idea as well.

"We'll be camping here," the guide, Caelum said as she took her backpack off of her back.

The campground was bigger and more beautiful than they had all previously thought. On one side was a large meadow full of wildflowers and tall grass. On another side was a large grove of trees that stretched for probably miles. Somewhere nearby they heard the sound of running water and assumed that there was a brook or river. The skyline was nothing but snow-covered mountain tops from mountains higher up than they were.

Cho stood cautiously at the edge of the treeline, looking around for any sign of wild animals that Draco had told her would come after her if she weren't careful. At the first sign of anything moving, she came running up to Fred, grabbing his arm and pulling on it hard.

"What's the matter?" Fred asked in annoyance.

"I saw something in the trees move."

Fred rolled his eyes and continued to listen to the guide as she explained some things about the area that would be useful for later.

Before long, nightfall had come and enveloped the campground and all of its surroundings n a peaceful blanket of darkness broken only by the fire in the middle of the dirt clearing that would be their home for the next few days.

Ginny sat wrapped up in Draco's arms as they listened to their guide talk about urban legends and fables surrounding the forests around and the mountains themselves. It was all very interesting, but Draco didn't seem to want to keep his attention held on anything but the woman wrapped in his arms.

Ginny leaned her head to one side and rested it on her shoulder as Draco placed a few simple kisses on her skin as he normally did when the were sure no one was looking. But of course everyone in the camp had seen.

Hermione and Harry had already gone to bed early, choosing to rest instead of listen to old wive's tales. They had had a long day of hiking and wanted nothing more than to spend the night wrapped in each other. Since full intimacy wasn't an option within the close proximity of the rest of the group, Hermione and Harry had just decided to take a vow of celibacy for the camping trip, even if they were sharing the same sleeping bag.

Hermione let out a long yawn and rolled oiver in the sleeping bag to meet Harry's chest. Even though they made sleeping bags for two, they had still decided on getting a very large one made for just one person. It was a tight fit, but warm all the same.

"Harry, are you asleep yet?"

Hermione was greeted only by the sound of Harry's light snoring. A smile graced her face before she closed her eyes and met the same sleepy fate that Harry had had apparently a long time before herself.

Outside of the muggle tent things were winding down. The fire had dwindled down into glowing embers and only a few people remained from the story-telling session. Fred and George were busy digging small holes for the guide to trip in when she woke up, and Cho was complaining to Fred about being tired.

Draco and Ginny were making their way back to their tent for the night. Much to Ron's dismay, their tent was next to his own. If they were going to do anything, he didn't want to hear it. But it wasn't his own fault that he had been stuck with the tent. He had left it up to the twins to assemble it. Bad idea.

The night wore on and with it came the darkness and the sounds of the creatures of the night. Somewhere in one of the tents the sound of nervous rustling could be heard and then Cho trying to wake Fred up. Draco had really gotten to her.

"Geroff me," Fred said as he rolled over in his tent.

"Fred, there's something out there," Cho wispered nervously. She tapped Fred on the arm and tried to shake him awake.

"So stick your head out of the tent and tell its furry arse to go away."

A loud slap was heard. "Oww! Goddamnit!"

"Get your ass out there and see what it is!"

In the next tent George stuck his head out of the flap and looked over to where Fred was crawling out of his own. He looked at his twin and then motioned back inside to were Cho was probably cowered in her sleeping bag.

In the embers of the fire George could see Fred's face brighten up with a smile. Fred motioned for George to come to where he was, and so he did. Just on the other side of the fire was a very sleepy looking squirrel that was sitting in the middle of a rock. the apparent reason for Cho's worry.

"Don't squirrels go to sleep?" George asked curiously.

"I don't know about squirrels, but I know our brother does," Fred said as he glared mischieviously at the animal.

"Does ickle Ronniekins need a sleeping partner? Is he feeling a bit left out?"

Fred crept around the back side of the animal and took his wand out of a pocket of his pajama pants. He never left his wand anywhere but on his body. Especially since he could name a good lot of people that would want to take it from him.

George watched with amusement as Fred petrified the poor animal. Not long after, Fred picked it up and carried it cautiously to a tent on the far side of the camp, the one next to their sister and Draco's. George followed over and held the tent flap open as Fred crept in and sat the animal down next to Ron.

Soundlessly, Fred crept back out and started to take a few steps back toward his tent when an idea came to him. He walked back to Ron's tent and peered inside, ending the petrification curse on the poor animal. He and George went back to their tents in silent, shaking laughter.

Inside Ron's tent the squirrel had noticed that their was another occupant. It tentatively walked over to Ron and sniffed at him curiously.

In his sleep Ron could feel the small rodent's nose touching his cheek as he slept. He reached up his hand and scratched his cheek. Seconds later the squirrel had touchd him again and he got annoyed. In his sleep he rolled over and mumbled before settling back down. The squirrel had realized that something was not right about Ron and began to flip out when Ron had moved.

Then it happened.

The squirrel climbed up over Ron's face and woke him from his sleep. He opened his eyes and saw two tiny, black, beady eyes look back at him.

He screamed.

From across the camp Fred and George had poked their heads out of their tents like the rest of the people and laughed so hard they cried as their baby brother came running out of his tent still half in his sleeping bag with a not-so-rabid squirrel after him.

"Get it away, get it away!" Ron screamed as he went diving in the guide's tent.

The squirrel scampered off and climbed a nearby tree. Caelum, the guide, tried to point this out to Ron, but he wouldn't have it, so he stayed cowered in the corner of Caelum's tent until daybreak.

The next day was lazily spent mulling around the camp grounds and the surrounding area. The twins enjoyed playing with the fire, and Ron spent his time trying to figure out how to animal-proof his tent much to Fred and George's delight. Draco and Ginny spent a quiet afternoon in the meadow nearby, the tall grass blocking the view of anyone wishing to see what they were up to. By the sounds that were coming from the grass, one would already know.

Harry and Hermione, however had immersed themselves in the river on the other side of the camp. It was a very slow-moving body of water, and very convenient for the both of them since they would be spending nights together without release.

Dusk brought a quiet fire and a gathering of the friends for dinner and talking under the stars. It had been Seamus's idea (while the muggle guide was away) to use his wand and make the water from his bottomless canteen turn into whiskey much to the disapproval of Harry who had wanted this trip to reamain alcohol-less.

"Seamus, pass that this way," Ron said as the guide came and sat back down next to him in her spot by the fire. Ron lifted the canteen to his lips and let the liquid fire burn down his throat as he had a long swig of the alcohol.

Cho reached over and pulled the canteen away from Ron's lips and had some of the substance herself before giving it to Fred who passed it to George and then made its way around the campfire.

"Seamus, you have a talent when it comes to liquor, did you know that?" Hermione said as she handed the canteen back to him.

"I work my magic well," Seamus said as he put the canteen back where it came from.

"Well not as well as we do," Fred said as he reached into his own bag of goodies.

"We made this before we came," George said as he took the lid off of the canteen and passed it across the way to Seamus.

"It's got kick," Fred laughed.

Seamus downed the liqid and sat on top of his rock for a few seconds before his eyes began to well up with tears. He wiped at his eyes as he handed the canteen back over to the twins.

"Whatever the hell that was, I'd venture to say you could make a fortune out of it. You'd have every idiot in the bars wanting to test their manhood on it."

Fred and George had equall grins on their faces as they put the canteen back into the bag from which it came. Thoroughly amused with themselves, they brought out another bottle and passed it down to the guide.

"This is the more diluted form if you'd care to take a try," Fred said slyly.

"It's not too strong, but maybe you'd like it," George smiled.

The guide shrugged and drank all of what was left in the bottle. She sat there for a few moments before handing the bottle back to the twins and yawning. The guide stretched her arms above her head and stood up abruptly. "I think it's time I went to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

Everyone said their goodnight to the guide as she walked into her tent. George and Fred, however, tried their best to hide their snicker until they were sure that the guide was asleep.

"What's so funny?" Harry asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"We gave her a very diluted version of Draught of Living Death," George explained.

"She'll be out for the next day," Fred laughed.

Harry and the rest of the group could barely hide their smiles and giggles as they thought of all the possibilities that having no guide could bring. Of course, some thought about all of the bad things that could happen, but it was still fun to think of everything that they could get away with.

"Well if she's out, then why don't we get this party started?" Cho asked.

"Don't tell me you guys brought more than just what's in that canteen," Harry said hopefully.

"Would it be a party without the liquor?" Justin said happily as he went and took ahold of a canteen that Seamus was holding out for him. "That's why we filled about eight instant-refill wizard canteens with liquor."

"I don't believe any of you," Harry said wistfully.

"Well I believe them," Ginny said with a sly smile. "Now how about a game?"

There were a few affirmative murmers around the fire and Harry found himself in the middle of exactly what he told himself he wouldn't do on this trip: a drinking game. He had even told them that this wasn't a trip for drinking. That they were going to enjoy themselves sober, but he should have known better.

"What's the game?" Hermione asked, taking Harry's hand in her own.

"Truth, Dare, or Drink," Justin said, taking his own canteen out of his bag. "I think the rules are self explanatory. You can have your choice of the three options, and if you don't do the dare or tell the truth, then you must drink twice the amount of what's in the glass. But since we have no glasses, I think half a canteen would do just as nicely."

There were excited smiles from all around the fire with the exception of Harry who cast an upward glance at the sky while soundlessly asking 'why me?'

"Oh, it won't be that bad, Harry," Cho said as she waited for the first question.

Justin took the liberty since he was the one that suggested the game in the first place. Of course, his first victim would be Harry since he was the only one not willing to play the game.

"Harry," Justin said slyly. "Truth, dare, or drink?"

Harry sat and stared at Justin menacingly from his log on the other side of the fire. Hundreds of thoughts and scenarios ran thoruhg Harry's mind at the prospect of the hell Harry could be put through from one simple five minute round of hell. The others could see the anxiety in his eyes, but they said nothing as he sat, the center of their attention.

"Truth," Harry proclaimed. God only knew what Justin would have him do, so he decided to go with the safe option.

Justin seemed thrilled by this and a devilish smile overcame his features. "Name all of the women that you've slept with."

Harry felt the knot of fear that had been resting in his throat turn to something much much worse. Hermione sat next to him and was smiling sweetly at him, a look of death in her eyes that was only backed up by the raging fire in the center of their circle. Maybe he could refuse the question in chance for a drink instead.

"I, uh..." Harry began. He looked around the campfire nervously at the faces full of anticipation. "What do I have to drink?"

"Are you officially refusing the question?" Justin asked.

"I believe I will," Harry said almost cheerfully.

"I thought you didn't want this to end up like another one of our parties," Hermione said from beside him.

"Better the alcohol than the blood, My Dear," Harry said smiling to Hermione.

"Which is it going to be?" Justin asked. He held up two canteens to Harry and shook them to accent the liquid burning inside.

"The one on my right."

Justin passed the canteen around and it made its way back to Harry. He unscrewed the cap and smelled what was inside. The others laughed when he sneered his nose at Seamus upon the explanation of the liquor.

"It's muggle whiskey. Stronger than the stuff we make and that's why I like it," Seamus procclaimed proudly.

Harry tilted the canteen in Justin's direction and drank the whiskey as quick as he could. It burned going down and made his insides feel fuzzy. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, but he overrode that and passed it back to Justin.

"I get to ask next?" Harry asked. There were nods of affirmation and then Harry's victim came.

"Cho," Harry said in amusement. "Truth, dare, or drink?"

"Truth," Cho said shyly. She had never been one for outrageous displays of anything.

"Name the people that you've had strong fantasies about."

Cho sat on her log and stared back at Harry with a blank look in her eyes and smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Well Cedric is a given," she said softly. "And then there was you," Cho said as she looked at Harry. "But that was a long time ago, and now I don't have to fantasize about Fred. I get what I want from him."

Fred stood up and bowed to everyone and then sat back down next to Cho, leaning over to kiss her deeply. After the catcalls were done and Cho came up for air, she turned to her next victime which happened to be Seamus.

"Oy, Seamus!" Cho called to catch Seamus's attention. He had been immersing himself willingly in the whiskey canteen.

"Wha?" Seamus said when he capped the canteen and sat it down.

"Truth, dare, or drink?"

"Truth," he said.

"Who was your first kiss with?"

At that statement, Ginny turned a deep shade of red that thankfully no one saw in the firelight and she looked at the blond haired man that sat between her legs with his head resting on her stomach. She toyed with a few strands playfully and laughed when he swatted at her.

"Acutally, she's sitting right across from me," Seamus said looking at Ginny.

Draco looked up and met her smiling brown eyes. Before Draco could say anything, Ginny covered his motuh with hers in a kiss to keep him quiet. Thankfully it worked, and when she was done, they had moved onto the next person in the game.

"Ron," Seamus asked. "Truth, Dare, or Drink?"

Ron smiled and said, "Truth, of course."

"Alright, then. Tell us exactly who you spent the latter half of your time at Hogwarts lusting after," Seamus said grinning.

Ron turned as red as his hair and murmered something about not going there before taking Seamus's canteen and drinking his share.

"So it's my turn to pick?" Ron asked while he cleaned the dripping whiskey off of his stumbly chin. "Then I chose Malfoy."

Draco's eyes shot up and he linked them with that of his lover's brother. There was an icy glare and then sheer amusement and anticipation of what the Weasley could possibly want to ask. Surely nothing could bring down a Malfoy.

"Truth, Dare, or Drink?"

"Truth," Draco spat.

"Alright, then. Exactly what went on the other Friday night at Harry's flat when we couldn't get the door open?"

"Oh, you know," Draco said, taking Ginny's hand and lifting it to his lips.

"But I want to hear it from your mouth. I want good reason to get up and kick your ass."

"You want to know? Then I'll tell you," Draco said as he stood up. "I was shagging your sister, that's what. All night long, and all afternoon the next day."

Ron stood up and walked over to Draco, standing less than a foot away from him. Ron was a head taller than Draco, but Draco was not intimidated. He was raised to withstand great odds. It was amusing actually.

"Well I'm waiting, Weasley," Draco drawled.

"On what?"

"Waiting on you to kick my ass. Or are you too much of a whiney weasel to do it?"

"No more than you are a ferret."

And with that said, Ron punched him in the jaw. Draco went sprawling back out on the ground, clenching his face in pain. No more than ten seconds later he was standing up, charging Ron.

Draco hit him with full force and both of the boys fell onto the ground, dangerously near the campfire with Draco on top, punching the life out of Ron's stomach. He managed to get one good hit to the face before Ron threw him off and began to try and pull his arms out of their sockets.

"Damnit!" Ron yelled as Draco pushed his knee up into Ron's groin area. Ron collapsed into a ball on the ground and clutched at the hit area.

Draco stood up and began to walk away. But Ron wouldn't see to this. He reached out and grabbed a hold of one of Draco's feet, tripping him back onto the ground. He spit out a mouth full of dirt and turned around.

"Why you son of a-" Draco yelled as he began to lunge once more. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"That's enough, Draco," Ginny said softly. "I think both of you have made your point quite clear."

Ron stood up and wiped a trickle of blood off of the side of his mouth.

"You're going to get yours one day, Malfoy," Ron yelled loudly.

"Well with the way you look fright now, I'd say that what was coming to me went back on you tenfold." Draco smirked and turned around to Ginny, kissing her softly and walking back to their tent in silence.

"Take my turn, Weasley," Draco shot over his back. "I'm going to be busy for a while."

Ron narrowed his eyes at the blond man and stormed over to Seamus, taking his canteen and walking off to the edge of the tree line where he sat down and began to get plastered by himself.

"I'll take that turn," George said happily. "Fred, Truth, Dare, or Drink?"

"Since no one else here is man enough - or woman enough - ," Fred said when Cho elbowed him in the ribs. "to take a dare, I think I'll do it. Dare."

"Alright, then." George stood up and offered his arm to his brother, and without a further word, they walked away from the camp and into the nearby meadow. Soon they were out of site, leaving only those at the campfire to wonder what they were doing.

"Now that that's done. Harry, you have a go at it," Justin said.

"Alright. Hermione, Truth, Dare, or Drink?"

"Truth," Hermione said, leaning up to give him a soft kiss.

The others around the fire sat waiting for the question, wondering what else there could possibly be left to ask. Nothing seemed to surprise them anymore. But who knew. This was Harry Potter afterall, and he never ceased to amaze them.

"Hermione," Harry said, feeling rather brave. "Will you marry me?"

Hermione opened her outh to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, she looked up at the face above her and pulled his head down, meeting his mouth halfway. They kissed furiously in the light of the fire for everyone to see, and didn't pull up for air until they heard the sound of laughter from the few other people that were left.

"I'll take that as a yes," Harry said smiling.

Hermione nodded and reached back up for another kiss while Harry slipped a ring on her finger nonchalantly.

In the tall grass, Fred and George were still walking away from the camp. Fred kept standing on the tips of his toes, looking over the grass in search of something.

"Fred, it's bloody three in the morning. What could you possibly be looking for?" George asked after a quick glimpse back to the campsite. It was almost out of site now.

"A cat," Fred said cheerfully.

"A cat? Have you lost your mind?"

"Apparently," Fred said as he advanced through the grass with George behind him.

Back at the camp most of the people there had gone to sleep. It was early and there was much to be done the next. And by much, it was meant that there was nothing to do other than run around and get drunk. Fred and George had not come back when by the time the sun rose, and Ron was still sitting slumped against a tree with Seamus's canteen in his hand.

By the smoldered fire Harry and Hermione laid wrapped in each other's arms. Small smiles of contentment were on their faces, and every once in a while one of them would shift just to have the other move right back into place with them.

The birds chirped overhead and one of them swooped down, landing on the shoulder of a sleeping Seamus. The irishman opened his eyes and turned his head to meet the animal's small, black eyes. Still being half asleep, he screamed and made a run for the river.

Ron, who heard the scream, looked up just in time to see the animal fly away from Seamus, and see the man running for the river. Ron raised the canteen to his lips, tipping it toward Seamus first and muttered a smal, 'that's the spirit'.

Splashing was heard while the other occupants of the camp went about waking up to see what the commotion was.

Ginny stuck her head out of the tent, making sure the flaps were barracaded tight to prevent anyone from looking inside. She saw that there wasn't much to see and pulled her head back inside, securing the flaps shut.

"What's going on?" Draco asked as he lifted his head out of the sleeping bag.

"Nothing that I saw."

Ginny crawled back into the sleeping bag and pushed herself against Draco's warm body. Immediately she closed her eyes, but knew from his reaction that she wouldn't be getting any sleep.

"Don't you ever feel tired?" Ginny asked, slightly annoyed.

"Not when you'r around. And especially not when you're in my sleeping bag."

Ginny laughed and draped and arm over Draco's waist, willing him to cover her. Reading her mind, he laid down and began to nuzzle her neck. Kisses were planting, and nibbles were made. Ginny felt herself relaxing under his touch. It was amazing what this man could do to her.

"If you keep doing that, we're not going to make it out of this tent today," Ginny said. It seemed that whenever Draco was around, she was always tied up in something.

"Who said I planned on leaving the tent? Who said that you would even get to leave this sleeping bag?"

Ginny smiled wickedly and joined in on the fun, reciprocating what he was doing to her, back to him.

"What the hell is that sound?" Ron asked as he stumbled drunkily back to the camp.

The other turned their heads and listened to the slight moaning that was coming from the direction of his sister's tent. Once again a realization came over his face and he wanted nothing more than to go stomping in and crash their lovemaking session.

"Do they ever give it a rest?" Ron asked angrily.

"Well according to Draco last night before you two had that row, no, I don't think they do. Whenever the chance is open, they take it," Harry smirked.

"Shut up, Harry," Ron scoffed.

Harry smiled and stretched. He yawned loudly and sat up on his elbows, having a look around the camp. Everyone seemed to be there with the exception of the twins. Harry saw that Seamus was coming back up from the lake, dripping wet and smiling wildly at Justin who was having a fit of laughter.

"You're just a bit wet, Seamus," Ron remarked when he passed by.

"Oh? I hadn't noticed."

Seamus brushed past Ron and went over to his tent. Ten minutes later, he came outside wearing a set of dry clothes, and holding another one of his canteens in his hand.

"Time for some fun," Seamus said as he set off on a small trail with his whiskey in tow. Justin followed after him.

"You know, he's right," Harry said eyeing the canteen near his head. "This place needs some fun."

By the time afternoon had reached them, everyone was plastered. The whiskey and other drinks were flowing freely, and emotions were running high. Laughter soared all around, and was doubled by the site of Seamus and Justin coming out of the woods, both covered from head to toe in mud and grass. There were no questions asked, and no explanations given.

"Hey, Seamus," Harry said as he tripped over his own feet, falling to the ground. Hermione giggled uncontrollably, clutching her sides and gasping for air. "You loo' like... a pile o' mud!"

Seamus growled and took a step forward, slipping on the mud from the bottom of his shoes and falling to the ground. Justin bent down to help him up only to suceed in falling down himself. The three men on the ground all began to laugh incredibly hard.

"You guys nee' to learn some sel' control!" Hermione said with a very loud burp. She covered her mouth and said, "Excu'e me."

"Oh, come off it, 'Mione. You'e jus' as plas'ered as we are," Ginny said through the kisses that Draco was giving her.

"Bu' at leas' I'm not havin' sex for e'eryone to see!"

Ginny would have been blushing, but the alcohol and the fire covered that up.

"Leave 'em alone, 'Mione. If he wan's to fuck her, le' 'im," Ron chirped up from the other side of the fire. He lifted the canteen to his lips and poured the tan liquid into his mouth, gargling it.

"But tha's your sister," Hermione countered.

"It is?" Ron asked. "But Ginny has red hair!" Ron said, pulling some of his own hair.

"She does," Hermione said laughing.

"But tha's blonde 'air!"

"You'e loo'ing at Draco," Ginny offered with a hiccup from the other side of the fire.

"Goddamnit!" Ron shouted as he stood up, swaying from left to right. He began to walk toward the couple that were snogging on the ground, but was stopped by the sound of a large animal growling somewhere nearby.

"Kitty!" Harry said loudly as he came running back from the river.

"Kitty?" Cho asked as she was woken.

All heads turned to the direction that the sound had come from. What on earth could have made a noise that loud? It couldn't have been a cat. Cats were small creatures that made hardly any noise at all.

But sure enough, Fred and George came running through the trees in which they had left the previous night. But this time, they were being dragged by a large cat with tan fur and teeth the size of pocket knives.

"Wha' the hell is tha'?" Draco asked.

"Run, you fools!" Fred yelled loudly through the cat's furious screams.

"Out of the way!" George countered.

The cat jumped and the makeshift leashes that had been holding onto the animal were jerked out of their hands. They gasped and reached inside their pockets, looking for their wands. But then they remembered that they had left them in their tents. And to get to their tents, they would need to get past the large cat.

"Shit!" Ron screamed, his legs locking and not wanting to move. He turned as white as a ghost when the cat came strolling up, stopping right in front of his face, licking its chops.

That was all it took for Ron to disapparate.

When he came to, he was sitting in the middle of his parent's kitchen table. On one side of him sat his mother, and the other side his father. Both looked equally shocked to see him. But all he could get out was a simple, "I think I'll be off to bed now."

Back at the camp, the mountain lion had left thee camp and was screeching up the mountainside. Fred and George were doubled over in laughter. The other people of the camp were coming out of their hiding places, looking around for the lion, and most importantly, Ron. In their drunken state, they hadn't seen Ron apparate away. The twins had, but they hadn't.

"Where'd Ron go, you guys?" Ginny asked as the twins walked back into the camp.

"He disapparated," George said.

"Ahh," was Ginny's only reply as she turned and went back inside her tent where Draco was most assuredly waiting.

Muh to the twins' surprise, a voice that they had not intended to hear came booming from the tent farthest away from the others. It was the loud voice of the guide, wanting to know that the hell was going on, and where everybody was.

All at once both Fred and George began to explain that she had fallen asleep, and how they hadn't had the heart to wake her, and that everything had been taken care of while she were out.

"And the rest of the people?" Caelum asked.

"They're around here somewhere," Fred said as he scratched his head.

"We think," George added as an afterthought.

The rest of the daylight was spent gathering up the remaining six people that were scattered throughout the area. Ginny and Draco were of curse naked in their tent doing things that none of the others wanted anything to do with, and Harry with Hermione were close to reaching that stage. The guide had been disgusted at the upkeep of things, and she wanted to know why everything smelled like whiskey.

In the forest they found Seamus wandering around lsot, wanting to know where the public restrooms were. According to him the trees hadn't been very useful in giving him any information, although they had told him where the location of the nearest fireplace connected to the floo network was. The guide proceeded to not ask questions.

Justin was down by the river fishing with his toes. They hadn't been a good bait so far, although he swore that a shark had come up up bitten off his right leg. It was up to Seamus to help him walk back to camp.

Cho had been sitting by the smothered fire the entire time, watching the little bugs as they crawled around on the ground. Fred had greeted her with a kiss, but she was apparently too wrapped up with the bugs to have cared.

The guide counted heads by nightfall, and wanted to know why she was one person short. Everyone insisted on the fact that there had been no other person there with them. She had to have been crazy to assume there was.

"But he slept in my tent after the rabid squirrel invaded his tent!" Caelum yelled.

"Maybe you've slept a bit too much," Hermione said as she helped the guide back to her tent for the night. "Although some more wouldn't hurt. Goodnight."

Morning brought a fresh new day for the nine companions and their guide. They had packed early in the morning and were down the mountain in less time than it had taken to get them up. Everyone was eager to go home, and the guide seemed eager to get rid of them.

Upon return to England, Harry and Hermione walked in their flat to find it occupied with a very stern looking Molly Weasley. She tried to smile as they walked in the door, but it didn't work too well.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Weasley," Harry said after he had set his luggage on the floor near the doorway. "What brings you here?"

"Did you have a nice trip, Dears?" Molly asked sweetly.

"Lovely trip. I wish you could have been there," Hermione said.

"Well the most interesting thing happened the other day," Molly began. "Arthur and I were sitting down to a nice quiet meal when right in the middle of the table apparated a very knockered son of mine. He was babbling something about you two dragging him camping, and how a cat had tried to eat him."

Harry and Hermione had equal looks of amusement on their faces.

"You don't say?" Harry said.

"I do. And now my poor boy is sitting at home in be-" Molly Weasley paused where she was and glanced strangely at Hermione. She rushed over and picked up the woman's hand, giving the engagement ring Harry had given her a good look.

"What's this?" Molly asked.

Harry and Hermione blushed.

"Is this an engagement ring?" Molly asked hopefully.

Hermione nodded and turned back to kiss Harry softly.

"Oh, I'm so happy!" Molly exclaimed. "Congratulations!"

Harry and Hermione kissed one more time. Molly knew that they wanted privacy, so she apparated away from the flat back to her own home where she could spread the news of the engagement. It would go like wildfire.

But just for the time being, the two lovers stood in the foyer of their home, enjoying only the moment and the company that they shared with each other.