Endless Summer

Endless Summer

By Katie

Chapter Two- Arrivals

* * *

It was dark and stormy outside, even though it was only 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The weather wasn't quite good. Charlie and Bill wanted to cancel their plans to fetch Harry and Hermione, but decided against it because their siblings were throwing Very, Very Dangerous Threats. "If we get struck by lightning, then you're all to blame," Charlie had told them. "And you'll have to make a nice marble tombstone for me, because that'll make everyone think I was a warrior wizard."

So Ginny and Ron were the only ones left at home. Fred and George had already gone off to work at their joke shop in Diagon Alley. Ron was feeling nervous. Very nervous. Ginny was lounging in the living room, looking undisturbed while reading the Quibbler. Ron paced around the room, glancing at her once or twice, expecting her to say something, but she was frowning with concentration that he thought that it was very wrong to interrupt.

But in the Weasley family, there was no such thing as 'patience', so after six seconds of contemplating, Ron blurted out, "Ginny, aren't you at least worried?"

She looked up from the Quibbler, her face slightly dazed. "What?"

"Aren't you at least worried - you know - about Harry and Hermione coming here?"

"Why should I be worried?" asked Ginny, bemused. "You're the one who should be twiddling your fingers." She looked down at his hands. "Oh wait, you are twiddling your fingers. My bad."

"Hermione will probably sigh in boredom when she sees me," he grumbled, sitting down next to her.

"Hmm... good point," Ginny murmured absent-mindedly. "But then again, she'll probably choke you to death when she hugs you. You know, Ron, I am coming to a conclusion that you are a lost cause."

"Well, even if I am - I - there's still lots of fish in the sea!" he protested. "Like - erm - one night when I was taking a break from patrolling, someone sat on my hand." Ron wriggled his eyebrows excitedly. "And get this. It was neither a woman or wearing pants."

Ginny arched an eyebrow. "You actually like it when guys try to shag you?"

Ron spluttered in rage and defeat. "Ha-ha. Ron's gay. Very funny!"

"It is," she nodded in agreement.

He was about to throw a vase of flowers at her until they heard a knock on the door. "They're home!" Ron squealed excitedly, getting an incredulous look from Ginny as he jumped out of the couch and bolted to the front door. He turned the doorknob and exclaimed, "How are you, mate?"

"Quite fine," said the person, but it wasn't Hermione. And it wasn't Harry either.

"Loony?" Ron yelled vehemently. "What are you doing here?"

"Ron!" Ginny hissed, pushing her brother aside and giving Luna Lovegood an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Luna. My brother's not quite right in the head."

"Hm," said Luna, as if pondering over the matter. "I thought he was indicating how crazy I was."

"He didn't mean it, did you Ron?" Ginny gave Ron a death stare.

He wanted to say yes, but decided against it. "No, of course not." He glanced at her suitcases. "Erm, Luna, why did you bring those bags?"

"Didn't Ginny tell you?" Luna said with faint surprise. "I'm staying here over the summer."

"WHY?" he exclaimed.

Ginny threw him another death stare. "I just thought it would be - merrier," she answered briskly. "Anyway, why can't I bring my own friend over? Are you scared of too many girls? Aww, lookie here, ickle Ronniekin's scwared."

"I think he's just nervous," said Luna, eyeing him interestedly as if he was a specimen of her experiment. "My dad," she continued, changing the subject, "wanted to have our own vacation but he decided to do extra work on the Quibbler." For a moment, she looked almost sad, but immediately replaced it with a bright smile. "I hope you wouldn't mind having me here, Ronald."

Ginny sniggered. "Come on, Luna; I'll show you to my room."

Both of them left, leaving Ron slightly astounded. He could not believe that his already sneaky sister would be sneaky enough to bring a crazy lunatic into the Weasleys' household. He was about to follow them upstairs, but a loud bang coming from the fireplace stopped him. Ron turned around to see Charlie and Hermione smoothing their clothes to get rid of the ashes.

Hermione looked up and squealed when she saw him. "RON!" She launched herself on him and enveloped him into a big hug. "Oh, I missed you so much!"

"It has only been a week," he said, blushing madly.

"Oh, a week seems like an eternity!" she exclaimed. Then, she frowned. "Where's Harry?"

"Oh..." Ron paused, a slight turnover feeling in his stomach. It felt almost like jealousy. "I dunno - Bill's getting him."

"I wonder how he's doing?" Hermione murmured thoughtfully, a faraway expression in her eyes.

"He's doing fine," he blurted out. "He told me in his letters how the Dursleys were treating him. They're handling him fantastically."

Hermione frowned. "Didn't he tell you about all the things Dudley and his friends did to him over the past week?"

"Aha! So he's sent letters to you!"

"Of course he did, silly," she raised an eyebrow. "He's our best friend."

But that prat didn't even send me a letter, thought Ron furiously, clenching his fists. How can he send letters to Hermione but not to me? He needs me to maintain his public relations at Hogwarts. I am the future Head Boy, people! "What's wrong, Ron?" asked Hermione. "You look strange."

"Nothing's wrong," he replied.

"Hermione, you're here!" Ginny's voice came from behind. She flashed a wide smile at Ron before hugging Hermione.

"Hello, Hermione," came Luna's dreamy voice.

Hermione's eyes widened and her mouth popped open. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing I asked," Ron murmured. "I keep telling you that we're meant to be."

"What?" Hermione looked at him reproachfully.

"She's here because Ginny invited her to spend the summer here, too," Ron answered quickly. "So you see, it wasn't my fault -"

"Why is it anyone's fault if I'm here?" Luna broke in.

Their talk was interrupted with another loud bang coming from the fireplace. Bill and Harry emerged from it, also covered in ashes. Harry took off his spectacles and wiped off the dust. "I hate Floo," he mumbled.

"Harry!" Hermione ran to him and gave him a hug too, even much bigger than she had given Ron.

"Get off him, you wild insane boar," Ron spat. "You're going to choke him and he'll be dead before You-Know-Who finishes him off."

Hermione stared at Ron as if he had suggested her to go to Mars. "Ron. Not. Good...!" Ginny whispered urgently to him.

"Great to see you too, Ron," said Harry, giving him a lopsided smile. "And Hermione..." He trailed off for some reason, his green eyes suddenly looking down at the floor.

Luna grinned. "What a conn--" But Ginny immediately placed her hand over Luna's mouth.

"So, we're back again..." Ron muttered. "How was your holiday, Harry? You didn't even send me a single letter," he emphasized his last words.

"I thought it didn't really matter, since I was coming," said Harry nonchalantly. "I was going to fill you in on some stuff anyway."

"Well fill me up, because you've done a great job of filling Hermione up," Ron snapped.

"Honestly, Ron - what's wrong with you?" Hermione glared at him.

"I - "

"He's just been through rough times," said Luna quixotically. "I say we should all have our lunch."

* * *

"Are you sure you can cook, Luna?"

Hermione was frowning as she watched the younger girl peeling off the potatoes carefully. "You seem to be afraid that the potato will somehow mash itself up." She wasn't feeling very pleased that Ginny had invited Luna. The Ravenclaw would always argue with her about things that actually concerned facts. Hermione remembered the Crumple-Horned Snorkacks and winced.

"Cooking is an art, Hermione," Luna did not even look up when she said this. "And art must be handled carefully and neatly." At this, she glanced at Ginny who had tomato sauce all over the front of her white blouse and some bits of mustard on her cheeks. The three girls were actually preparing (or at least, trying to) lunch.

At first, Hermione suggested that they should serve pancakes. It was more practical and they did not have to waste on the ingredients. But Luna reminded her that pancakes was for breakfast and if Hermione still desired to serve them, then she hada brain the size of a pebble. Fuming, Hermione unwillingly agreed (she had to agree; the comment was made by a smart Ravenclaw and she did not like it when people made fun of her precious brain) to have mashed potatoes, steaks and ice cream for lunch.

"Mum's going to kill me," said Ginny, watching hopelessly at some of the broken plates she had accidentally dropped while passing them to Luna.

"You can ask your brothers to repair them," Luna assured her. "And your parents don't really need to know about it."

Hermione sighed.

* * *

Since the twins, Bill, and Charlie were off at work, Ron and Harry were the remaining boys at the Burrow. They were lazing outside, lying on the grass and facing the hot summer sun. Harry had his eyes closed. There was a contented and yet troubled expression on his face. Harry sighed deeply, enjoying the crisp wind playing with his hair. He glanced at Ron, who tossed him a dirty look.

"What's up with you?" Harry demanded. "You've been acting like an idiot, you know that?"

His face turned red when Harry said he was an idiot. "Yeah, and I suppose you're smart, Harry?" Ron shot back. "Remember what happened last year? Remember why Sirius died?" He regretted saying what he did, because Harry's eyes immediately saddened. "Harry - I'm sorry..."

"It's okay," he whispered.

"It's not okay. I just said something really bad," Ron protested.

"Look, it's okay," Harry snapped.

I'm such a freak, Ron thought, avoiding Harry's eyes. Harry needs me. He doesn't have time for girls. Maybe he doesn't like Hermione. He had a rough time with Cho Chang after all..."You're a great friend, you know that?" said Ron, trying to make Harry feel better.

"Oh yeah?" Harry's voice was indistinct.

"Yes," Ron said fervently. "Thanks for not taking her away."

"Take who away?"

Ron laughed. "Oh, you know what I'm talking about!"

"I really don't!"

It did not occur to Ron that he had never told Harry about his crush on Hermione. "You know..."

"Who, Ron?" Harry pressed.

"LUNCH'S READY!" Ginny hollered.

* * *