Connections

Chapter 3: Luck and Surprises

Harry was awoken by the unfamiliar sounds of his roommate cleaning the room. In the short time they had been sharing Ron’s room, you could easily determine which areas were Harry’s and which were Ron’s. Harry had grown up with very little and had learned early to cherish each possession, no matter how trivial or used. Because of this, Harry tended to keep his side of the room neat and orderly. By contrast, Ron grew up receiving hand-me-downs from his older brothers.

"Most of it is already trash by the time I get it. Why bother worrying about it," he once told Harry when Harry had asked about his untidiness. Ron did appreciate some things. He took meticulous care of his Chuddley Cannons collectibles and of the gifts he received from his friends on his birthday and Christmas. It was just that there was a lot more of the old stuff in his room that he didn’t bother to put away. Harry knew that Ron half wished that most of it would disappear so he would have to get new items but his family could not afford them. So, when Harry woke up and saw the red-headed blur picking up items from the floor and putting them away at an hour much earlier than he had ever known his friend to wake up, he was a bit confused, especially because Ron was humming cheerfully as he displayed this unusual behavior.

Harry reached for his glasses and asked Ron, "What are you doing?"

"Tidying my room," Ron answered as if it was the most natural thing for him to be doing.

"Did you have an epiphany or something?" Harry asked seeking further clarification for his best friend’s bizarre behavior.

"Huh?" Ron replied as he heaved a large pile of clothes onto his bed and began sorting and folding them. "What are you on about, Harry?" he asked.

"Well, Ron, the sun is barely up and you are awake and you are cleaning," Harry paused a moment to emphasize his last point, "and you are humming."

"Sorry I didn’t mean to disturb you," Ron said but failed to answer Harry’s question.

"Oh, I’m not complaining. Please, keep it up. I was getting up early to go run with Charlie. I was just curious as to what caused this sudden burst of cheerful energy that you are channeling into cleaning your room," Harry told him as he slipped on his running shorts, t-shirt, and sneakers.

"Oh, it’s Wednesday," Ron replied as if this answered Harry question and continued with his task of folding his laundry some of which, Harry noticed, was very dirty.

"Call me skeptical, but I hardly think this is your normal Wednesday routine. At least I know it isn't when we are at school," Harry answered as he tied his shoes.

"Okay, your skeptical," Ron was smirking when Harry looked up from his shoes to smirk at him.

Ron grinned and said, "Harry, Hermione is coming today. She is bound to come into our room. You know how she is. I don’t want her lecturing me about my cleaning habits."

"Oh- okay," Harry answered with a chuckle. He knew that there was more to this than avoiding one of Hermione’s rants. He suspected it had more to do with impressing their friend, who Ron had only just recognized as a girl after the Yule Ball. Harry kept his suspicions to himself. He didn’t want Ron to stop working.

"Well, I’m going to go meet Charlie. I’ll see you at breakfast," Harry said as he headed down the stairs and out the back door to meet Charlie. They had been running together since the day after Harry’s arrival at the Burrow.

"Hey there, Harry," Charlie called as Harry walked outside, "do a few exercises like I showed you to get warmed up then stretch out and we’ll get going." Harry nodded and sat on the ground to begin his routine.

"Do you think you’re up to seven kilometers this morning?" Charlie asked as he switched from doing sit ups to doing push-ups. "Yeah," Harry answered as he began his sit-ups.

Charlie had started off the first morning by explaining why they needed to do warm up exercises and stretch before running. Their first run was not far, only about two kilometers. Charlie had told Harry that he normally ran about twenty Kilometers each day but that he didn’t want Harry to overdo it too soon. Harry had done well and yesterday they had easily accomplished their planned five kilometers.

"By the end of the summer you’ll be running the fifteen kilometers with me easily," Charlie said as he began stretching. Harry noticed Charlie had the well-defined muscles of an athlete and thought to himself that he could too if he kept up the work at school.

Harry really enjoyed this time with Charlie. It was like having a big brother. Charlie would talk about his days at Hogwarts and his job studying dragons. Fearing Ron might get jealous, Harry had tried to talk Ron into joining them. Ron had laughed at the idea telling him, "You two are nuts." Charlie had told Harry that he never could get any of his brothers to go running with him. So Harry figured he didn’t need to worry about what Ron might do.

Harry and Charlie were both doing lunges when Charlie noticed someone watching from a second story window. He chuckled as he pointed in the direction of Ginny’s bedroom window and said, "Someone’s got an admirer."

Harry flushed then shocked himself when he asked, "Does Ginny ever run with you?"

Charlie was taken off guard by the question too and said, "You know, I’ve never asked her to join me. Maybe we will see if she would like to tomorrow. Ready?" Harry nodded and they headed off on their run.

* * * * *

In less than an hour they had arrived back at the Burrow running a little more than the seven kilometers they planned. Charlie and Harry had chatted as usual about things they had seen on the route. This time Charlie noticed Harry had asked a few more questions about his siblings especially his youngest and only sister.

"You know Harry, what you should do is just get to know her. Include her in things that you and Ron and Hermione do. Become her friend before you start thinking of anything else about my little sister," Charlie had advised him. Harry flushed again when he realized that Charlie knew his thoughts. "I don’t have to tell you that if you break her heart you have six of us to answer to, do I," Charlie added then seeing Harry’s very worried expression chuckled and said, "If you become her friend first, Harry, you won’t hurt her. But I would like to warn you that her temper is worse than the rest of us put together." He laughed again at Harry’s confused expression as he went inside to shower.

* * * * *

Harry headed to the bathroom, showered quickly, and dressed to go to Diagon Alley. They were going to meet Hermione at the Leaky Cauldron later that morning. When Harry walked into Ron’s room, he had to step back out to make sure he had found the right room. Ron had completed his cleaning and had removed most of his bright orange Chuddley Cannon posters and decorations. The beds were now covered in matching spreads with pictures of the Gryffindor Lion. Ron must have charmed the old coverlets to change because Harry noticed that bits of orange color would show through in some spots depending on which angle you looked at them. Harry started to smile but the smile was quickly replaced by a look of concern when he realized that his friend must have done magic outside of school. Harry had once received a letter from the Office of Improper Use of Magic charging him for underage magic that was actually committed by Dobby, the house elf he befriended in his second year. The consequence, if caught, was expulsion from Hogwarts.

Ron walked in behind him correctly reading the look on his friend’s face and said, "Mom knows I did it. You know it’s harder for them to detect underage magic in a wizarding house than a muggle one."

He turned to look at his friend with a smile of relief but ended up rolling with laughter. Ron had his hair combed differently and Harry was overcome by the strong smell of too much after-shave. Harry couldn’t help but wonder if his friend was the victim of one of the twins’ practical jokes. "Uh, Ron, what is that smell?" Harry asked fearing the answer.

"It’s after-shave. Like it? It’s some of Bill’s old stuff that he doesn’t use any more," Ron answered cheerfully.

"It isn’t the smell so much as how easy it is to smell it," Harry answered making a face to indicate that the odor was somewhat strong.

"Is it really that bad?" Ron asked worriedly.

"Well let’s put it this way, I could be blindfolded and point you out if you were standing next to a vat of bobotuber puss," Harry said as he wished that the window to the small attic room to be opened.

"Fred and George said…" Ron stopped mid-sentences when he realized that he was the victim of a joke from his older brothers then added, "Save me a sausage and some toast from breakfast. I’m going to take another shower." Harry chuckled as Ron ran from the room his ears red with anger and embarrassment.

* * * * *

After breakfast everyone gathered in the kitchen as Bill lit a fire in the fireplace enabling them all to travel in the floo network. Bill and Charlie went through first to make sure there was no danger. Harry then Ron then Ginny then Fred and George each took their turns at the hearth throwing in the powder and stating their destination. Harry remembered the first time he traveled by floo powder. He had coughed and ended up in Borgin & Burkes, a shop on Knockturn Alley that dealt in the dark arts.

Mrs. Weasley was the last to arrive at the Leaky Cauldron and as she brushed the soot from her clothes asked, "Are the Grangers here yet?"

Hermione’s parents were dropping her off at the Leaky Cauldron before continuing on to their cruise. They were traveling the busy London streets by taxicab and had undoubtedly gotten held up in traffic. So the Weasleys and Harry ordered a round of butterbeer and some light snacks and took their places at the booths at the back of the pub and waited for Hermione and her family to arrive.

Tom, the bald innkeeper, greeted them happily and chatted with Harry about how his summer was going. Fred and George tried to talk Tom into eating one of their new hard candies that changed the eater whatever shade the candy was. Tom was well aware of the Weasley twins reputation from last year when they stayed the night at the small-attached hotel and refused their offer politely.

George turned to his identical sibling and said, "We are going to have to find someone who doesn’t know us."

Fred answered and smiled mischievously, "Isn’t that what first years are for, my dear brother?"

The party hadn’t waited long before Harry heard the voice of his other best friend, "Yes, mum, this is the place… No, daddy, they charm the door so that non-wizards do not notice." It was Hermione Granger explaining the inconspicuous charm on the door to the Leaky Cauldron to her parents.

When she walked in Harry couldn’t help but notice that he and Ginny were not the only ones to have undergone a physical transformation over the short summer. Obviously Ron noticed to as he flushed and ran to greet her. Ginny and the twins giggled as George said, "I don’t think she is going to run away. Well, she might if she sees that running at her."

"At least she can’t smell him coming," Harry said looking over and making a face at the twins who started laughing conspiratorially.

"He should have known better by now after fifteen years of living with us," Fred said.

Charlie and Bill just grinned and shook their heads at their younger brother’s obvious infatuation with his female friend. Harry and Mrs. Weasley also stood to follow Ron to greet Hermione and her parents.

Upon seeing he redheaded friend practically run over to see her Hermione turned from her parents and grinned. She put down Cookshanks’, her pet cat, basket on the floor and gave Ron a friendly hug. Harry did notice the brief change in their facial expressions as they both made eye contact. Hermione took the cage holding a very sick looking Errol inside from her dad and placed it on the floor as she frowned over at Harry.

Ron shook hands with her parents then turned to Hermione and said, "So you came to your senses and decided not to visit Krum?" Hermione’s previously friendly smile turned to a disgruntled smirk, but as she moved to greet Mrs. Weasley she once again wore a bright smile. Mrs. Weasley gave Hermione one of her usual bear hugs. Harry didn’t miss the look of relief as Hermione returned the hug. Mr. Weasley who had the habit of reading the Wizarding tabloid magazines had believed when she had read that Hermione was being a tart playing with both Viktor Krum’s and Harry’s affections. As a result, Mrs. Weasley had treated Hermione quite coldly for several months. Molly Weasley released Hermione and to their surprise greeted her parents with equally exuberant hugs.

Hermione glanced back at Ron then turned to hug Harry. Before she released Harry she kissed him on the cheek. Harry flushed and looked over to Ron who was glaring at both of them.

By this time the rest of the Weasleys had joined them to greet the Grangers. Fred and George were both staring at Hermione’s chest as Fred said, "Hermione, you’re looking well. The Parisian air must agree with you." Hermione blushed but didn’t seem to mind the attention especially, when she watched Ron becoming angrier.

Harry laughed as Charlie and Bill each swatted one of their twin brothers on the back of the head. "You two are so crude," Bill said to his brothers then turning to Hermione he added, "nice to see you again Hermione." Harry noticed that Bill, too, took in the physical changes that Hermione had undergone since the end of school. He was only slightly more subtle than the twins.

This time it was Charlie who elbowed his older brother, shook his head and said, "Hi Hermione. Are you sure you want to spend the rest of your summer in a house full of leeches?" Hermione’s smile grew. She really was enjoying the attention from the Weasley men. Ginny pulled her to the side and soon the two girls were looking over at Harry and Ron and giggling as they talked secretly.

The Grangers gave Mrs. Weasley a copy of their travel itinerary and then hugged their daughter before turning to leave the Leaky Cauldron. Hermione watched, waving as they got into the waiting taxicab. When she turned to join Harry and the Weasleys she had a tear in her eye. "I already miss them," she said softly trying to hold back more tears, "I won’t see them again until next June." Instinctively both Harry and Ron each grabbed an arm as they all walked out together. Hermione’s tears went away with the comfort of her two best friends, but Ginny’s face saddened as she watched the three friends and thought, "Will I ever be one of them?"

They all walked out into the alley behind the pub and Bill used his wand to touch the brick that would open the entrance to the Diagon Alley. The wall opened to reveal the wizarding shopping district hidden in the middle of London. People wearing wizard robes in a variety of styles and colors were bustling about the busy shopping area. From afar, some of the shops looked no different than muggle stores, but as you got closer and read the book titles or saw the merchandise sold or even saw the prices listed in the wizarding rates of knuts, sickles, and galleons you became well aware that you were far from the muggle world.

The group headed first to Gringotts, the Goblin run wizarding bank. It is a large impressive structure made of white marble with uniformed goblins at the door. Harry and Mrs. Weasley took the trolley beneath the ground to their vaults. Harry opened his door only wide enough to permit him to scoop some galleons into his bag. When they went to the Weasley’s vault Mrs. Weasley again emptied it of its meager contents. Harry remembered his and Hermione’s plan to get the Weasleys a new owl. After seeing Errol he knew that they really needed to do this. They made their way back up to the bank lobby to find Bill chatting in a friendly manner with a small group of Goblins. Charlie was just finishing a transaction he had made and Hermione had exchanged her muggle money from her parents for galleons. Ron was complaining that the exchange rate was ridiculously in the Goblin’s favor.

They decided to go to Madam Malkin’s for new school robes first. That way they could be altered if needed as they completed the rest of their shopping. All of the returning Hogwarts students needed new school robes due to the fact that they all seemed to have experienced adolescent growth spurts of an inch or two. Fred, George, Harry, and Hermione went to the section with new robes. Harry and Hermione had money from their families and Fred and George had the Triwizard prize money Harry had given them on the train ride home from school last term with the instructions to purchase new dress robes for Ron. Ron and Ginny followed their mother to the section with used robes.

As Mrs. Weasley reached the center of the store, music began to play and Filibuster Wet Start No Heat Fireworks were zooming around the family.

"Fred! George!" she screamed suspecting the twins of causing the mayhem.

"We didn’t do this," George and Fred offered in their defense.

Madam Malkin herself walked out smiling as she said, "Congratulations! You are our one-millionth customer and because of this, your party," she paused as she motioned to all of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione, "will all receive today’s purchases for free."

Everyone was quite excited. Mrs. Weasley was flustered, "Are you sure? There are so many and I can’t believe it. Are you serious?" Madam Malkin reassured Mrs. Weasley and steered Ron and Ginny toward the section with new robes.

"Well let’s see, that will be six sets of Hogwarts robes. Gryffindors? Correct? Good and of course you are all at least fourth years. You will need new dress robes too," Madam Malkin grabbed Ginny and looked at her then said, "Hmm- green perhaps? Yes this shade of green would go well with your hair and skin color." Ginny walked over to look through the dress robes to pick something for herself. Hermione joined her and soon they were very involved in their selections.

Harry was joined by Ron at the plain black dress robes. Madam Malkin looked at Ron and said, "Well, you can’t go wrong with black but have you thought of this color, it would go well with the blue of your eyes?" She motioned to a rack containing a few sapphire blue robes. Harry laughed to himself when he realized that Hermione had stopped her shopping to see what Ron might choose.

Harry walked over to the twins, "Did you guys arrange this because if you did Hermione and I can…"

"No, Harry," George interrupted, "We planned to just pick something out for Ron and get them to add it to his package. We had nothing to do with this."

"Isn’t it great though?" Fred added.

Madam Malkin now turned her attention to Mrs. Weasley, "You simply must pick out a few new robes for yourself and while you are at it I know that you have another son that isn’t here and your husband to shop for- surely they could use something new, too." Mrs. Weasley couldn’t answer and she allowed Madam Maulkin to select robes for her and her absent family members.

Harry couldn’t help but notice the broad smiles and quiet chatter going on between Bill and Charlie as they selected robes for themselves. He overheard Charlie tell the shop owner, "Yes these six robes will need the faculty crest and thank you, you did a great job. No one suspects a thing."

Harry was puzzled, "Where did Charlie get the money to do this? I know he doesn’t make that much as a dragon trainer." He walked over to Charlie and looked at him and smiled. Charlie correctly read Harry’s thoughts and facial expression and as he raised a finger to his lips whispered, "Ssh, It’ll be our secret. Don’t worry- you’ll understand soon."

"This is great and all, Charlie, but really Hermione and I can afford our own. You don’t need…" Harry was interrupted by Charlie.

"It’s not a problem, really. I have some money now. Mum and Dad would never take money from any of us kids and I just wanted to help out. They have sacrificed so much for us. Bill is only letting me pay for him because I actually owe him some money. Besides, you and Hermione have become members of our family." Charlie explained in quiet tones as he continued to look at dress robes.

"Are you really sure? I mean I have enough money of my own from my parents and all. I don’t want you to be put out," Harry asked.

"Harry, like I said don’t worry about it. I’ve got quite a bit of money myself now," Charlie told him. Harry walked away from Charlie. Still confused about why he is doing this but relenting to his wishes.

Harry watched as the others excitedly selected their purchases and smiled over at Charlie, "Thanks," he mouthed and walked over and added his selection to the stack.

They left the store and headed to Flourish and Blotts for their books and school supplies. Bill and Charlie stayed behind telling the others that they needed to get socks. Harry started to stay behind for more socks too. For some reason his had been going missing since staying at the Weasley’s. But Charlie winked and laughed, "I’ll get you some socks too, Harry. I see you haven’t identified the thief yet." Harry had thoughts of the ghoul in the attic and made a mental note to remember to ask Ron or Ginny about who could be stealing his socks.

The rest of the Weasleys were excitedly discussing their good fortune as they walked to the old bookstore. Hermione walked over the Harry, "You didn’t…" Harry shook his head. "But you do know something don’t you, Harry?" she asked bugging him with her eyes to reveal her information.

"Just enjoy, Hermione, I don’t really know everything but I do know something," Harry told her as he walked ahead to hold the door for the others and to end the conversation. He was about to go inside himself when Charlie and Bill called to him to hold the door for them. As they walked through Charlie whispered to Harry, "Your turn."

"Huh?" Harry had no idea what he was talking about until he entered Flourish and Blotts and was treated to a similar but more subdued display as they had experienced in Madam Maulkin’s store. Harry smiled with understanding as he was informed that he was the five millionth customer to the store and had won all of his party’s purchases for the day. Charlie winked at him. Mrs. Weasley was thrilled and told Hermione, "I’m so glad we all came to meet you. We really have luck smiling in our corner today."

Harry wasted no time in validating the reality of his winning and requested, "I need two sets of seventh year books, three sets of fifth year books, and one set of fourth year books for Hogwarts."

The shopkeeper was writing everything down, "Now what other classes are you taking so that we can get those?" Each of the Hogwarts students told their elective courses to an assistant who checked the Hogwarts book list for the titles of the books needed.

Harry walked across the room and picked up a large book, ‘The History of Muggles and How They Live without Magic’ by I. M. Gladknot and added it to the growing stack. Harry had seen Mr. Weasley look at this book more than one time but it had never been purchased. He began to scan titles and found one called ‘Discovering Hidden Magic- A Primer for Officers of the Improper Use of Magic Department’ by Hugh Betterknot. This book was also added to the pile of books on the counter.

Charlie walked over to him, "Percy will really like that one, Harry. Hey here is a book ‘Quidditch Strategies’ it has an entire section on the Cannons. I’m sure Ron would love that one." Charlie handed Harry the book with two others. Harry looked down to see a second copy of the Quidditch book and Charlie smiled, "For you." The third book was "The Anthology of Muggle Literature and Poetry. Harry frowned as he read the title and Charlie whispered, "For Ginny."

Harry winked his understanding and added ‘Obscure Facts that No Regular Human Should Know’ by Ima Noughitall. "Hermione will really like this one," Harry told Charlie as he hefted the very large book onto the counter.

Ron walked up to Harry carrying two books ‘Practical Jokes that Can Get You Expelled’ and ‘Things No one Ever Thought of Doing and Probably Never Should’ both by Nash T. Imp. "I will live to regret this I know, but maybe they will find some more ideas for their joke shop," Ron said as he handed the books to Harry.

Ginny walked up with the newest edition of Gildroy Lockhart’s book on home and garden magic. Harry frowned. "I know, but mom loves the books- besides we know the information is good and he is just collecting royalties. Here these are for Bill and Charlie," she said as she gave him ‘Cracking the Codes of the Ages’ by C. Cret and ‘Every Beast You Want to Know About and Some You Don’t’ by Z. Brazoo.

The shopkeepers gathered all the books and handed everyone a bag with their new purchases. "Well this is really a great day for the Weasleys," Mrs. Weasley said as they headed out of the door. Bill and Charlie stayed behind again. Bill made the excuse of ordering a book for a friend that he couldn’t find in the store.

They stopped in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies. All of the Weasley boys and Harry wanted to see if there were any new brooms or other Quidditch equipment out this year.

They were thrilled to see that this year there was a new Firebolt on display in the window. The company had released four new brooms. One for each Quidditch position that would maximize the players performance. The sign in the window read ‘Price on Request’. Pointing at the sign Fred said, "Translation don’t bother asking it costs more than anyone could think of affording."

Hermione walked over from where she was waiting with Mrs. Weasley, "We’re going to the Apothecary to get the items we need to replace in our potion kits. You boys give us your lists and we’ll get yours while you gawk at the new brooms." Hermione collected the lists from the others then pulled on Ginny who really wanted to get a closer look at the brooms saying, "Come on Ginny."

The boys wished Ginny well and headed into the store for a closer look at the new Firebolts. There was no fanfare this time. Ron actually looked disappointed as he said, "Guess it was too much to hope for."

Harry laughed a little as he headed over to check out the seeker broom. He knew it was well out of his price range even if he took in the money he saved by not having to pay for his robes or books. He was however able to justify the purchase of new Quidditch gloves and pads. He went to the shopkeeper whom Fred and George were trying to get to eat one of their new candies. "Come on guys- I don’t want to get banned from this place," he said as he reached to stop the shopkeeper from taking one of their candies.

"Joe here isn’t going to ban us because we gave him a candy," George said offering the candy again.

"He might when he turns purple," Bill added as he walked up.

"Oh that’s right the red hair- you’re the Weasley twins. I’ve heard about you and your jokes from Tom over at the Leaky Cauldron. You say these candies turn you purple?" Joe said to the twins.

"Well not permanently only about three hours or so and they don’t just make you purple they turn you what ever color the candy is," Fred explained.

"I don’t care to change colors myself but do you think you can sell me a few? I’m going to a convention in a few weeks and would love to bring them as a new novelty item for the fans. Eat an orange one before a Quidditch match and show your support for the Cannons," Joe explained to the boys.

George and Fred were delighted by the idea, "Quidditch fans would voluntarily eat sweets to show their support for the teams," George said.

"How many do you think you can get for me by say next Thursday?" Joe asked.

"As many as you need. We have all colors too," Fred answered and the three worked out the details of their plans for the sale.

Charlie walked up behind Harry and said, "I had nothing to do with that."

Harry laughed and asked the other shopkeeper for assistance in getting the equipment he wanted. He bought himself new pads and gloves for his seeker position and quietly ordered a set for a keeper and a set for a chaser too. He figured he could spend the money he saved today on Ron and Ginny since he was hoping they would both join the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He arranged for their equipment to be sent to them at Hogwarts after the start of term.

When Harry completed his purchase, the shopkeeper handed him seven slips of parchment. Harry looked at him confused. Seeing the confusion, Joe walked over informed him, "Those are for a drawing. The company that makes the Firebolts is giving away seven of the new brooms, one for each position on the team. So you can put your name in for each position if you would like."

"Oh that’s great. I sure hope our luck still holds out," Harry replied as he took a quill from Joe and began to fill out the small slips of parchment. On the slip labeled for the Seeker broom, he placed his own name. He put down Ron’s name for the keeper broom and the twin’s names on the two slips for the Beater brooms. On the chaser forms he wrote, ‘Virginia Weasley’ on all three of the forms and secretly wished that at least one of those forms would be the winner. He slipped the forms into the cups labeled for each position. As he dropped each one in a flame came up from cup and the parchment disintegrated into ash. Harry gasped then realized it probably worked like the Triwizard cup and that the names would be selected by magic.

They left the Quidditch shop and were nearly run over by a very excited Hermione.

"You’ll never guess what just happened. I answered a trivia question and got it right and we got all of our potion ingredients for free," Hermione said everything very quickly and added, "So when you check your lists I added a few items that might come in handy for everyone."

She lowered her voice and leaned towards Harry and Ron, "Maybe we won’t have to sneak into Snape’s office again." They were all smiling.

Charlie said, "Wow that’s great!" as he winked at Harry indicating that he had orchestrated this as well.

"It was something she knew from reading that horrid book she knows by heart. You know…" Ginny said but Harry, Ron, Fred and George all joined her to finish the last part of her sentence, "Hogwarts: A History."

Hermione smirked at them all then said, "Well for once I get to show you a good reason for having read the book. If I hadn’t read that book I wouldn’t have answered the trivia question and no one would have gotten the potion ingredients for free." She punctuated the end of her sentence with a friendly poke at Ron’s chest.

Ron’s ears turned bright red as he said, "Okay, for the rest of the day I hereby promise not to make any derogatory comments about you reading that book!"

"Just the rest of the day?" Hermione teased, "it should be the rest of the year."

"Well I wanted to make a promise to you I knew I could keep. There is no way I could resist razzing you about reading that blasted book for any longer than a day," Ron answered with the goofiest grin Harry had ever seen on his face. Hermione looked at Harry and Ginny and rolled her eyes but she turned to Ron with an equally goofy grin.

"Uh-oh," Harry thought, "looks like we’re in for a few changes this next year."

Charlie called over to Ron and Ginny to go into the Stationary shop next door to Quality Quidditch Supplies. "All you need is parchment, ink and quills and you will have all that you need for school," he said then turning to his mother said, "Bill and I will get this for them, mum."

Bill followed his three siblings into the store. Harry watched through the window as Ron and Ginny were encouraged by their older siblings to purchase the nicest quills and multiple colors of ink. Many rolls of parchment were added to the counter as well. Harry thought, "this is way more then we all need." But smiled as he watched how excited they were. Ginny also added a sketchbook and other art supplies to the pile.

Fred and George were busy discussing their plans to fill the order from Joe in the Quidditch shop. Harry asked them what they were getting paid. Fred answered.

"He’s giving us 75 galleons and two Nimbus 2001 brooms," Fred answered.

George added, "Works great for us. We thought of using some of the money you gave us for new brooms but this way we can use it for product development like we should."

The group from the stationary shop returned and distributed bags to everyone. Mrs. Weasley looked a little confused about the number of purchases but Charlie said, "They had a fantastic sale." And she seemed to accept this explanation.

Mrs. Weasley was simply beaming. She took out her purse and closed it shut again. "This is a first," she announced, "I have completed the shopping for the entire family and my purse is still full. I say we all go celebrate our luck at Flourean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor and indulge sinfully in large ice cream sundaes. My treat!"

Charlie was smiling from ear to ear. Harry smiled over at him as Bill patted him on the back. "Charlie has gone through a great deal of trouble," Harry thought to himself, "to arrange all of this for his family." This made a short pang of sadness run through Harry thinking that this was one of the things he missed by not growing up with a loving family. "I don’t know where he got the money but as long as the Weasley are happy and he didn’t do anything with Voldemortor his minions to get it, I don’t care," thought Harry.

Harry whispered to Hermione, "This is really great. Do you realize that Ron has not complained once on this shopping trip? He is usually so disagreeable when we shop for our school things." Hermione agreed with Harry, "Yes it has been nice. When do you suppose we can go to the Eeylops Owl Emporium? Errol will definitely not last much longer."

"Let’s see if we can go after the ice cream parlor. Or maybe we’ll make another trip to Diagon Alley, after all, we have a month until term starts." Harry answered her. Hermione stepped up faster to walk beside Ron. Harry was pleasantly surprised when he looked over to see who had fallen in step next to him and saw Ginny’s big brown eyes.

They made their way to the ice cream parlor everyone but he and Ginny chatting happily. When they got to Flourean Fortescue’s Harry’s mind wandered back to Charlie and his secret. He wondered where the money came from and when he would let his family in on his financial windfall. He was also thinking about how happy all the Weasleys were at thinking they had won all those things.

"Harry are you on this planet?" Ron asked startling Harry from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Harry said realizing that he hadn’t heard anything anyone else had said.

Hermione and Ginny giggled as Ginny asked, "What kind of ice cream do you want?"

Harry placed his order then went outside to find the others. He found them sitting at a few of the many outdoor tables. He had enjoyed working on his summer homework two years ago at these tables. He did his work and got help when needed from Mr. Fortescue and watched the others do their shopping. Harry had always enjoyed watching the wizards and witches. He had grown up not knowing so much and there was still a lot he wasn’t taught at Hogwarts.

Harry joined Ginny, Hermione and Ron at one of the tables. Ron had been filling the girls in on the twin’s business deal with Joe.

"What do you think about Fantastics?" George asked as he leaned over to their table when he overheard their conversation. Fred was doodling a package design using the new name on a napkin.

"That sounds really cute," Hermione said. Ginny was getting up to see what Fred was drawing. She grabbed her parchment and some art supplies and quickly drew a much better rendition of what Fred was attempting and handed it over to her older brothers.

"Wow that’s great, Gin," Harry said as he saw the picture, "I never knew you could draw like that." He kept learning new things about his friend’s little sister.

Ron added, "She’s always doodled, but Gin, I really like that. It goes well with the name and everything."

Bill walked out and joined the others carrying sundaes for himself, Fred and George, "The others are coming soon." He said as he sat down at the table with Fred and George. "Is this Gin’s work?" he asked as he looked at the picture she drew for the candy packaging, "It’s really good."

Harry watched a group of young wizards and witches walking in their direction. They were all talking and laughing. They all seemed to be wearing clothing made of dragon-hide leather. As he watched he couldn’t help but think a few of them looked familiar to him. Then Hermione spoke his thoughts, "Odd- the four in the middle look familiar. Like I should know them from somewhere. But I don’t know where."

Harry looked more closely at the ones she mentioned. There was a tall dark haired wizard with a dark eyes and complexion. Another had blonde hair and blue eyes with a tan. When Harry saw his eyes he thought, "His eyes are as blue as mine are green." He was joking and cutting up the most. The other wizard in the group of four Hermione had indicated had light brown hair and gray eyes. The last in the group was a witch. She had dark auburn hair almost the same color as Professor Dumbledore did when he saw him at a younger age in his pensieve. She had blue green eyes that seemed to just light up at the antics of her friend. She was wearing dark brown dragon hide pants and a green top made of what Harry thought had to be silk. The other wizards and witches in the group all had a variety of colorings and looked like they could have been from all over the world. They were all tanned and all seemed to be good friends.

Ron asked Hermione, "Where would you know them from?" Hermione shrugged her shoulders and frowned. Harry knew she couldn’t remember and it was bugging her.

When Ron asked her the question it brought Fred and George attention to the group. Fred immediately singled out the witch with auburn hair and said, "Oh- Angelina needs trousers like hers."

At this statement Bill looked up and bolted from the table towards the group. As he was leaving Mrs. Weasley walked out with Ginny and Hermione’s sundaes and said to Ron and Harry, Charlie will be out in a bit with yours, boys." Bill was shaking hands and occasionally hugging some of the group. Mrs. Weasley turned and started to ask, "Where is Bill?" but her words were cut off mid-sentence as she saw her oldest son tightly hug the auburn haired witch. And her eyes became the size of Dobby’s when Bill kissed the girl on the lips. Harry thought it was a friendly kiss especially for Bill’s reputation with the witches, but they continued to hold one another in their arms as they chatted.

"I guess he knows her from somewhere," George said as he was laughing.

"Yes, leave it to Bill to know all the nice looking witches," Fred added.

Charlie walked out and brought Harry and Ron their sundaes as Mrs. Weasley was saying, "Well I hope she’s nicer than that Fleur- at least from here she looks more down to Earth."

Charlie had his back to the group and asked, "Where’s Bill?" but answered his own question when he looked in the direction everyone was paying attention too. Fred opened his mouth to answer but before the words could get out of his mouth Charlie had dropped his ice cream and run to the group. The members of the mystery group were all excited to see Charlie and greeted him more exuberantly than they had Bill. Bill turned smiling at his brother as Charlie reached the woman. Charlie literally picked her up and twirled her around as they hugged and kissed. The kiss they had was definitely more than friendly and as Harry looked around he was glad to realize that he was not the only one blushing.

"Well- Uh- Well," was all Mrs. Weasley seemed to be able to say. She began to wobble a bit and Hermione and George hurried to get her sitting in a chair before she fell.

Charlie and the auburn haired witch finished their kiss and he began to turn his attention to the others in the group whom he greeted with half hugs as he still had an arm around her. They talked for a few minutes then all but Charlie, Bill, the woman, and the three wizards Harry couldn’t place apparated from Diagon Alley. The smaller group walked over to the ice cream parlor to meet the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry.

"Mum," Charlie said, "these are my mates from Romania. This is Merrick he’s from Australia," he pointed to the blue-eyed blonde, "this is T.J. he’s from the states," he pointed to the wizard with brown hair, "this is Carlo he’s from Italy," he pointed to the raven-haired wizard. Mrs. Weasley nodded with each introduction but she never took her eyes off of the witch at Charlie’s side holding his hand. "And this," he said as he smiled at her, "is Bethany. You may have heard Bill and I mention her before. She went to Hogwarts with me." Charlie smiled again at the girl and their eyes locked briefly. Harry thought, "this must be what it looks like when you are in love."

Bethany smiled and offered her hand to Mrs. Weasley, "I’m so pleased to finally meet you." Mrs. Weasley hesitated taking her hand.

Everyone sensed the tension. Bill said, "Mum, Bethany is the Ravenclaw that I took to the Yule Ball in my fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts. She and I have been great friends since I was a third year." Instead of easing the tension, Bill’s words seemed to increase her confusion. She looked from Bethany to Bill then back at Bethany then at Charlie then looked at Bill again. She reached and took Bethany’s extended hand and shook it briefly. Charlie exhaled. Harry smiled to realize that he had been holding his breath. After shaking Mrs. Weasley’s hand Bethany turned to the rest of the group.

"Let’s see," she said turning to the twins, "Charlie and Bill talk so much about you all. You must be Fred and you must be George." She shook both their hands as she correctly identified the identical Weasley boys. "And you are Ron," she pointed to Ron who blushed as she shook his hand. "You’ve got to be Ginny," she was holding Ginny’s hand as she turned to Charlie, "Charlie you really do need a new picture of your sister," then turning back to Ginny she added, "the one he has of you - you have got to be no more than nine or ten." Ginny smiled back as Bethany turned her attention towards Harry and Hermione. Harry braced himself for the famous Harry Potter line. "You two- I’ve met before," she told them. "Harry and Hermione- I trust Hagrid isn’t having you help him get rid of any more creatures he shouldn’t have now is he?"

"I knew I knew you from somewhere," Hermione exclaimed as she shook her hand. Harry realized too that he had recognized them from first year. They were Charlie’s friends that had come to Hogwarts to take Norbert, the baby dragon, to the dragon ranch in Romania. He shook her hand and smiled at her and turned to smile at the other wizards. "How could he have forgotten their faces," he thought.

Mrs. Weasley was still not happy as she said, "Charlie you seem to be very- uh- friendly with this one." She pointed toward Bethany and smirked at her. The light in Bethany’s smile dimmed as she swallowed and realized that Mrs. Weasley was not going to make things easy on her.

But it was Merrick the jokester from Australia that added gasoline to the slow burning fire that Molly Weasley harbored inside when he said, "Well, what else would you expect from a couple of newlyweds who haven’t seen each other in a month." Before the whole sentence was out of his mouth Merrick was hit by Charlie, Bethany, Bill, Carlo and T.J.

Mrs. Weasley gasped and the rest of the family was shocked. They all stood staring from Charlie to Bethany. The Weasley children all stealing looks at their mother as well.

"Mum- I’m sorry," Charlie started to explain as he watched his mother turn pale and he was very happy for the chair beneath her, "I didn’t want you to find out this way."

"You mean it’s true!" she said as she gasped to catch her breath and held her hand over her chest.

"Mum, there is a reason for it to happen this way and I had planned to tell you all about it this evening," Charlie knew his mother was only hearing every other word as she glared at his wife, "Mum, the middle of an ice cream parlor is not the best place for this to be discussed.

The others stood stunned waiting for Mrs. Weasley’s legendary temper to kick in. As if they all suspected it was about to erupt, everyone but Charlie, Bethany and Bill moved a few steps away from her.

Bethany leaned forward and bit her lip, "Mrs. Weasley- Let me reassure you that Charlie and I didn’t have to get married. But we were instructed to keep it quiet for safety reasons. Believe me if we could have done it differently we would have."

Mrs. Weasley seemed to ignore her as she turned to her oldest son, "And you- you knew all about this didn’t you." Her face was getting redder.

Harry almost laughed to see Bill, a grown man, squirm in front of his mother.

"Like they said, mum, it couldn’t be helped. I knew about this because I was in on the original plans that included the more traditional methods," Bill answered her trying to remain calm. He was one of the Weasley kids that always seemed to argue with and push his parents. He wasn’t used to quietly giving in but was calm for Bethany’s and Charlie’s sakes.

"More traditional," she said turning to Charlie and Bethany, "like meeting the groom’s family before the wedding?"

"Yes, mum, those were our original plans," Charlie answered. Harry could tell that Charlie was really hurting over his mother’s reaction to the news.

"And what did your parents say? Or should I feel privileged to have found out first," Mrs. Weasley said as she waved her arm in Bethany’s direction. Bethany didn’t flinch.

Charlie’s and Bill’s eyes widened. Everyone knew the Weasley temper was bad, but they both knew that it was nothing to the wrath that Bethany could release when angered or threatened.

Bethany took a deep breath and stared her mother-in-law in the eye, "My mother was killed when I was five, my father when I was ten- so no- my parents were not in on any of the plans." Her face was getting redder. She took another deep breath and said, "I love Charlie. I would never do anything that would harm him or his family."

Mrs. Weasley was definitely not expecting Bethany’s reply, but she wasn’t ready to give in either, "You said that you were instructed to keep this all quiet, what is that about? Because you know if it has anything to do with You-Know-Who, I’ll have you know that Albus Dumbledore himself has trusted us with…’

Charlie cut her off abruptly, "Mum, like I said this is not the place that we should be discussing this." All the Weasleys flinched at Charlie’s interruption. Charlie calmed himself with a deep breath and continued, "I suggest we collect our packages and call it a day. We had come to ask if it was okay for my friends to pitch our tent in the backyard until it was time to head on to our next job. Our plans were to tell you and dad everything over dinner." Charlie shot eyes toward Merrick who mouthed his apology.

He moved closer to his mother and said, "Mum, I am very happy. And you know, I don’t recall receiving a letter since I finished Hogwarts that hadn’t asked when I planned to marry and give you grandchildren. I’m half-way there- I know you’re upset with how you found out but I would have thought you would be happy for me."

Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes as she stood up and said to her other children," You lot get your things and meet me back at the Leaky Cauldron." Turning to Charlie she said, "Your friends can stay. We will discuss this further after your father comes home."

She shook her head and began sobbing as she hurried off to the Leaky Cauldron.

"I’ll go after her," Bill said as he rushed to catch up with his mother.

"Wow- now that was a surprise," Fred said as he held out one of his candies, "Let me offer you this candy to welcome you to the family."

"And end up purple for three hours? No thanks. You seemed to have missed the fact that not only am I married to Charlie here but Bill is my best friend. I haven’t had a day that I didn’t communicate with a Weasley in some form or the other since I was eleven. Your two brothers love to regale us all with tales of their younger siblings and their friends. I probably know far more about you all than you would wish," Bethany laughed at her new brother in law.

Carlo, Merrick and T.J. all offered to help the others carry and collect their things. So they all headed back to Madam Malkin’s to get their new robes. Harry had forgotten his package from Quality Quidditch Supplies and returned to the table at Flourean Fortescue’s. He told the others he would catch up to them.

Charlie looked depressed. Bethany did too as she hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek and asked, "So how did your family’s lucky day go?"

Charlie grinned as he remembered their reactions, "You should have seen their faces- it was really great." He turned as Harry walked up, "I suppose you know where the money came from now. Bethany came from two families that have more money than even the Malfoys could dream of. She’s wanted to help out before but it just didn’t seem right. Now that we are married we both wanted to help mum and dad but you know how they are- they would never take money from us. Bill is working on a deal with Gringotts so that we can just deposit a little at a time into their account," Harry smiled at him as he continued, "It was hard enough when it was just Bill and me for eight years. Percy, Ron and the twins have had to use our hand me down stuff their whole lives."

Harry stood there looking at Charlie, still not quite believing it all. "Well we better get going. We still need to get our robes and mum won’t be in a better mood if we are late." The three of them headed toward Madam Malkin’s. Harry was really happy for Charlie. "I hope Mrs. Weasley comes around soon," he thought as he watched Charlie and Bethany walk hand in hand.