Without Wand or Wire

WolfenMoondaughter

Story Summary:
Summer after the Trio's fifth year. Ron and Hermione get closer, while Harry grows distant from everyone -- including himself. Snape is reunited with someone from his past. Draco's life spirals out of control. Love blooms, and strange alliances are made. Black wings bring strange dreams. What wonders can wireless music and a little wandless magic work? HP/GW, RW/HG, SB/RL (slashy), DM/PP, BW/FD, NT/OC (slashy), PW/PC, SS/OC, AW/MW. Snape, Petunia, Draco, and Pansy redemption. Songfic. Illustrated. WARNING: includes graphic descriptions of self-harm. This fic DOES NOT encourage such behavior, but if you are bothered by the idea of Harry harming himself, even when it's portrayed as something he has to *overcome*, then do not read this fic.

Chapter 07

Chapter Summary:
The Weasleys' give Ron a sound talking to, Hermione runs off, Tonks' secret is revealed, Bill and Charlie pay the twins' shop a visit, and a surprise is planned for Ginny. Much Ron/Hermione shippage!!!!
Posted:
09/24/2004
Hits:
3,150

Ron stepped cautiously into the hippogriff's room, and bowed. He needn't have worried about being attacked; Buckbeak had lost interest in doing anything at all since Sirius had died. It was all any of them could do to keep the poor animal alive. Bad enough the miserable thing was locked away from the sky. Ron sometimes wondered if it wouldn't have been kinder to let the axeman have him, back in his third year. At least it would have been quick and clean, rather than this pained, lingering existence. ...

Stop it, Weasley! Ron reprimanded himself. You could just as easily have been talking about Sirius just now, before he ... and Harry, as well! Dumbledore will get Buckbeak out of here! He has to!

Dumbledore was hard at work trying to get Buckbeak's sentence overturned, now that Lucius had lost his hold over the Ministry, and Fudge and the Headmaster were friends -- of sorts -- once again. But as Ron knew well from his father's own job there, paperwork was a bitch.

"Don't worry, boy," Ron said soothingly to the hippogriff, tossing him a fish from a bucket he'd brought up, "Dumbledore will see to it no one hurts you again. Then you can get out of here and stay at Hogwarts, with Hagrid, and fly about as you please!"

"My, doesn't he have a way with ferocious beasts!" came a familiar voice oorm the door, "No wonder he gets along so well with Hermione!"

Ron tossed Buckbeak another fish, his back turned to the twins, yelling at them over his shoulder. "WHY DON'T YOU TWO SHOVE OFF?" The duo had been teasing him about the time he spent with the girl in question all summer, insisting that there was something brewing between them.

"Not until you admit it!" George replied, the smug look on his face saying that Ron's actions had already confirmed their theory for them.

"I hope Hermione brings that ugly pussycat of hers …" Fred said, looking at his nails with a sly smile.

Even George was thrown by this statement. "Why?"

"Because we both know how much Ron wants to pet her p--"

Ron delivered a solid blow to his brother's stomach. George quickly pulled him off before he could do any more damage. He's a lot faster than I would have given him credit for, George thought silently. Maybe we'll make a star Quidditch player out of him yet!

Hermione, meanwhile, was blushing furiously from her position on the other side of the halfway-open door. She had been about to come up to say hello, but had stopped when she'd heard the angry tone in Ron's voice. She'd flinched at the sound of fist meeting stomach, but felt no sympathy; how dare Fred say something so crude! That's what she got for introducing them to the wonders of the telly and Are You Being Served. They'd been mimicking Mrs. Slocumb ever since.

Unaware of the audience, Fred tried to laugh while simultaneously gasping for air. "Methinks our *huff*huff* little brother *huff* doth protest too *huff* much, 'ey George?"

"Would you geroff?" Ron snarled, finally shaking free of George, but leaving Fred alone. Instead he glared balefully at them both. "Hermione and I have been mates a long time, get it? Friends. Sh-she's like a .. a sister! So get your minds out of the gutter. I'm sure she doesn't feel anything more for me than I feel for her!" he added, sounding -- to the twins' ears, anyway -- decidedly less certain of his own feelings than he was trying to make himself out to be.

Hermione had heard enough. While she had often told herself the exact same thing when she found herself thinking more than platonic thoughts about Ron, she knew, deep down, that she was only fooling herself. She was just too afraid of ruining their friendship by acting on her feelings. But to hear those words out of his mouth? She felt as if he'd just punched her in the stomach, instead of Fred! Stifling a sob, she ran back down the stairs -- waking the portraits on the way, of course -- past a startled Mrs. Weasley, and out the door.

"BOYS! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Molly hollered, before struggling to calm the cacophony of the moving paintings.

Their faces ashen -- sometimes Ron thought even Voldemort couldn't be more frightening than his mum -- her sons made their way down and helped her draw Mrs. Black's curtain closed. When they were finished, she grabbed Ron and George by the ears, Fred's ears remaining untouched only because she only had two hands, and dragged them into the kitchen. Ginny, Hagrid, and Lupin, who were having a late breakfast, looked up in amusement.

"What have they done now, Molly?" Lupin asked, unable to keep the smile out of his voice.

"I don't know, but they are going to tell me," she assured him, her own voice full of warning. "I just saw Hermione running out the door in tears! What on earth did you boys say to her?"

If their faces were ashen before, they were white as sheets now.

"Hermione was here?" Ron croaked.

"She must have overheard us," George muttered before Fred jabbed him with his elbow.

Unfortunately for them, there was nothing wrong with their mother's hearing. "And just what precisely did she overhear that would have made her so upset?"

Busted. "Well, we were giving Ron a bit of a hard time upstairs, asking him when he was going to ask her out," Fred confessed. "We were only teasin'!" he added hastily. "Anyway, Ron was being stubborn as ever, sayin' she was just a friend --"

"She is!" Ron protested, prompting a harsh, unlady-like laugh from his sister. The look he have her could have curdled milk.

But Ginny wasn't the slightest bit cowed. "Sure, Ron, you just keep telling yourself that. Never mind the fact that, if it were true, she wouldn't have run out of here in such a hurry."

"She probably ran out of here because of what Fred said," Ron snapped back.

"And just what did you say," Molly asked Fred, her quite voice belying her anger.

Fred looked to George in horror, desperate for a distraction. There was no way their mother was going to let him live if she ever found out what he'd been about to say.

George came through for him. "He didn't even finish what he was saying! Ron punched him in the stomach!"

"RONALD WEASLEY!"

The look on Ron's face was a mirror for when he'd met Hagrid's pet spider, Aragog. "But .. but Mum, Fred --"

"You know how I feel about fighting!"

Before she could berate him any further, the fire in the fireplace turned green, and Bill and Charlie stumbled from it, into the room. "Hullo, Mum!" Bill called, cheerfully. "Are we too late for breakfast?"

"Oh, look at you both, you look exhausted! Sit down, I'll get you both plates!" The speed from which she could go from irate to motherly was truly frightening.

Fred and George breathed a sigh of relief and Disapparated to their shop in Diagon Alley.

Not yet able to Disapparate himself, Ron didn't have that option. His mother caught him getting ready to make a break for it out the kitchen doorway.

Thankfully, her tone had changed at least. "Ron, I know whatever Fred said must have been bad to get your dander up enough to punch him, but really, I know you're more mature than that!"

Bill laughed. "Please, Mum, they're brothers, they're supposed to clobber one another. Although it's usually the older beating on the younger. …" He gave Charlie a Cheshire-cat smile.

Charlie cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Er, so, Ron, what did Fred say that's got you so worked up?"

"Fred and George were teasing him about Hermione!" Ginny told them with an evil grin.

"Ginny!" Ron protested, giving her another milk-curdling glare.

"Oh, Hermione, eh?" Bill said knowingly. "'S'bout time you two got things out in the open! Good for you! She's a really nice girl, Ron, I'm happy for you!"

"But … ! But we're not --" Ron tried to protest, terribly flustered.

"They aren't dating," Ginny explained.

"Oh!" Bill said in surprise. "I'm sorry, Ron, does she not fancy you? I always thought she did. …"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, me too. Thought you two'd already been snogging for ages!"

"Charlie!" Molly snapped, aghast at his crudeness.

Ron was so flustered he couldn't speak, but his glowing red ears spoke volumes.

"Oh, she fancies him, all right," Ginny confirmed. "The only people who don't know that they like each other are the two of them themselves!"

Ron had been about to protest that he didn't fancy the girl, when the first part of what Ginny had said finally sank in. "She does? Did she tell you that?"

"Not in so many words. …"

"Then how do you know?!" Ron was torn between denial and hope at this point. "Does … does she talk about me?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Only all the time. Just like you always go on about her, really."

"I do not!"

Ginny didn't reply, but the expressions on every face in the room said he did.

"Er … so what does she …" he began hopefully, before his stubbornness kicked in. "No, she likes Viktor Krum!"

Ginny scoffed. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

He goggled. "Did you not see them go to the Yule Ball together? And she was his 'most important thing' at the Triwizard Tournament!"

"She only went out with him because he was the only guy who'd asked her, and he was nice about it," Ginny explained, deciding this probably wasn't a good time to point out that Ron had been Harry's most important thing. "But just because he's nice doesn't mean she fancies him. They're just friends!"

"So are we!" he protested, but none of them looked convinced. "A-and we fight all the time!"

"Yeah," Ginny popped her last bit of toast in her mouth, "just like an old married couple. Look, if you don't believe me, Ron, why don't you just go find her and ask her?"

The rest of the room waited expectantly for his reply.

"Well, what makes you think I'm interested in her?"

"Because if you didn't, you wouldn't be arguing with us about it," she explained with the patience of a parent dealing with an exceptionally dense child. "You'd just laugh it off."

Methinks our brother doth protest too much! Fred's words echoed in Ron's inner ear. Could it really be true? Then he remembered the night of the Yule Ball, in their fourth year, when Hermione had told him that other people had noticed she was a girl, and if he didn't want her going out with other boys, maybe the next time he should ask her first instead of using her for a last resort. At the time, all he could think of was how angry it had made him to see her on Krum's arm, when Krum was Harry's rival for the Tournament. But … that wasn't really the only reason I was angry, was it? That was just the way I ended up rationalizing it! I didn't really know why it made me so angry! … And now he did. The realisation hit him like the blow he'd thrown Fred, right in the gut. And she was telling me I should have asked her first. … Hooo-boy! Ronald Weasley, you really are as daft as she always says you are! You're in love with Hermione Granger! And if Ginny's right, and she likes you back … and if she'd heard what you said upstairs. …

"Where are you going?" Molly asked.

He hadn't even noticed that he'd started to walk out of the kitchen without replying to Ginny. "Uh, for a walk."

"Come here." He did as his mother bade. "You're a mess," she told him, as she raised her wand. "Scourgify!" His clothes were now spotless, as was his face. Molly grabbed a comb out of her pocket and ran it through his hair a few times. "There we are, now you can go. But be back by ten tonight!" she added as he turned away.

He turned back for a moment, granting her an incredulous look. "I'm only going for a walk!" And he left.

"Suuuuure he is," Ginny and Bill quipped in tandem.

Molly let out a sniff as she washed the dishes.

"Molly?" Lupin asked, concerned.

There was a sparkle in her eye as she spoke to him over her shoulder. "My little boy's growing up!"

No one bothered to point out to her that, not so very long ago, she had been complaining about that very thing. And now here she'd practically shoved him out the door -- and extended his curfew.

* * *

"Tonks? ... Too-ooonks … TONKS!"

"Mmmm?" Tonks said sleepily, not budging an inch.

"You need to get up!" came a tiny, but insistent voice from next to the nightstand.

"Fi' more minutes, Mum …" And promptly she snored.

"NYMPHADORA!!"

Tonks jerked awake. That decidedly masculine was definitely was not her Mum, and this definitely wasn't one of her pre-Hogwarts primary school days. She scrambled out of bed. "OHGODOHGODOHGOD!" She raced about the room, looking for her wand. "BUGGER ALL! ACCIO WAND!" It flew out from under the bed, into her grasp.

"Mmm? What's the matter, love?" asked Sarah as she walked into the room drying her just-washed hair, highly amused by her lover's antics as the girl fought to get her Auror's robe, which she'd started to put on the wrong way, back on properly.

"I'M LATE FOR WORK! WHY THE BLOODY HELL DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!"

"You're not late!" came the tiny voice again.

Tonks snatched up the small mirror on her bedside table. "Lupin? 'S'at you?"

"Wotcher, Tonks!" he greeted her with a grin. "Who'd you think I was?"

She laughed weakly. "Thought you were Mad-Eye. Been late twice this week, and he's let me have an earful."

Lupin looked aghast. "You think I sound like him? Dear God, I better lay off the firewiskey!" He flashed his teeth again. "Anyway, Molly wondered if you were coming for breakfast."

Tonks hadn't noticed Sarah come up behind her, and nearly dropped the mirror when she felt her chin on her shoulder. "Here now! Thought I was going to have you all to myself this morning," Sarah pouted.

Lupin's mouth made a little "o" of surprise as Sarah's face came into view in the mirror. This time his grin would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame. "I'll tell Molly you can't make it this morning," he told her with a wink.

Before she could protest, the mirror was suddenly filled with her own pallid features, wearing a rather defeated expression. Well, you always said you had no reason to hide who you were. And hey, if anyone would understand, it'd be Lupin. Besides, at least it got a real smile out of him she thought wryly.

* * *

"HERMIONE!!"

Hermione was overcome by conflicting impulses she heard Ron call out her name. She wanted to run away, leave him far behind. She was angry and hurt, emotional states she believed, deep down, that she had no right to be in. Ron's feelings were his own; who was she to fault him for them?. Especially since it wasn't until she'd heard him say that she was like a sister to him that she finally acknowledged to herself, once and for all, her own feelings for him.

There was no getting around it. She was in love with Ronald Weasley.

And that was a reason to run, too. Facing him meant facing the truth. She was terrified of what this knew knowledge might do to her, how it much affect her friendship with him. Could she still be the same old Hermione around him? And if she couldn't, what then?

Her urge to flee was also prompted by embarrassment; it must have seemed nothing short of insane for her to have run off like that, for no apparent reason. What excuse could she give? Unless he'd guessed the reason, which only made the situation that much worse, if he really didn't feel the same way about her. She might be able to maintain their friendship as it was if she was the only one who knew how she really felt -- but obviously not if he knew too!

Or what if he did feel the same way? What if that was why he was here now? She scarcely let herself entertain the notion, because if he did love her, why had he denied it? Was he ashamed for some reason? The a question that made her angry all over again, and want to stomp off in a huff.

And there was a small glimmer of hope somewhere in that mix, that maybe he'd just been in denial to himself, as she had been all this while, and was coming now to say he'd been wrong, he really did feel the same way. Hope and love fought anger and fear in an effort to make her fly, not away, but to him, into his arms.

So in the battle between warring directions, she ended up rooted to the spot, deliberating, as he pushed his way towards her, through the crowded Underground platform. It was too late to pretend she hadn't seen him; she'd made eye contact for too long. If she left now, he would know something was up. Better to stay, and hope he didn't know as much as she feared he did. Maybe he didn't even know she'd run out? She thought Molly had seen her, but maybe Mrs. Weasley hadn't said anything? Maybe this was just a coincidence, him spotting her here? It wasn't like they had actually made plans for today. Should she pretend nothing had happened, that she hadn't even been to number twelve that morning?

All decisions were taken away from her as a train pulled into the station. He had almost reached her when the crowd, which included a large group that was obviously together, swept her up into the last car. There were too many people there for him to fight his way into it.

* * *

Remembering the pain in his scar he'd suffered in the bathroom the night before, and the line of thinking it had led to, Harry did his best to maintain his emotionless self that day. Oh, he was polite, and even sweet, but Petunia hadn't failed to notice the switch in him, back to the listlessness of the weeks before Vernon and Dudley's trip. She tried to be encouraging, thinking maybe the revelations of the previous day had just been too much for him, but she was also afraid of pushing him, and refrained from asking him what was wrong outright.

So they had a quiet breakfast, then washed up and left to spend the day sightseeing in London, Petunia driving them there in the Dursleys' second car.

* * *

Ron couldn't just let her go.

He quickly ran into the next car, which didn't have a great large group of ruddy tourists in it and was therefore considerably less crowded, before the door closed. Once in, he made his way to the back door, and went through it into the last car.

"Hermione!?" he called, trying to sidle his way through those standing in the aisle. And older man muttered something about kids today as he passed.

"Ron?" she called from the other side.

"Yeah, Hermione, it's me! Excuse me, please," he said to no one in particular as he struggled down the aisle. He had the distinct impression the crowd was laughing at him, and could feel his ears start to burn with the familiar mix of embarrassment and anger.

He could hear Hermione making her own way towards him though, and just like that, his anger faded (although maybe not his embarrassment.) She couldn't be too angry with him if she was actually making an effort to see him!

Some of the people in front of him were actually trying to give him room to pass, smiling and saying encouraging things like "There ya go, lad," and "Almost there!" Sure enough, in another moment, he saw Hermione, looking every bit as embarrassed and bemused as he was. Just a few more passengers to pass for each of them, and they would be together, in one of the doorways.

The train lurched a bit to the side, and Hermione stumbled into him. The people around them gave a cheer and started clapping. Ron's arms were long enough to reach one of the bars, but all Hermione could do was hold onto him while he kept one arm around her to steady her. Were he not feeling like he was in a spotlight, he might have taken a moment to thank whatever higher powers were out there for such an excellent excuse to be holding her. As it was, he tried valiantly to act as nonchalant about it as was humanly possible when a lass' face was practically buried in a fellow's chest.

"So, uh, 'Mione, fancy meeting you here! …"

Hermione was trying just as hard to be cool as a cucumber -- and failing just as miserably. Maybe he really doesn't know about me running out like I did! "Oh, I had to drop off a few things for Mum, and I thought, so long as I was out, I'd go over to the Tower of London. You know, brush up on my mug--er, my British history a bit." Never mind the fact that if she had actually just come from home, she wouldn't have been taking this particular train, much less in this direction.

"Well, uh, d-do y'fancy m--" the train lurched again "--my coming along?" he finished in a rush.

She smiled and quickly cast her eyes down, demurely, her cheeks suddenly like blooming roses. "Y-yeah, that would be nice! I'd appreciate the company!"

* * *

"Morning, boys!" Bill Weasley called cheerfully after he and Charlie had Apparated into the twin's shop.

"Didn't your mother teach you any manners, William? Charles?" Fred asked with a wry smile as he dusted a shelf.

"It's rude to pop into a shop before it's open," George continued with mock severity, his smile a perfect match for his brother's -- but not a mirror, for it was turned up at the same corner.

Charlie put his hands to his chest as though wounded. "What's the point of being your brothers if we don't get deferential treatment?" And he proceeded to give the twins simultaneous noogies.

Bill chuckled at his younger brothers' antics. "We're here early because you left before we could talk to you at the house!"

"Yeah, likely Mum will be about shortly to finish what she started this morning," Charlie put in, now holding each of the twins in a headlock, "so we figured we better get what we wanted out of yeah before she got here."

Fred gave up struggling. "Oh, and what might that be?" he asked from the crook of Charlie's arm.

"Money for Ginny's birthday present. Charlie and I have decided to pitch in together and get her a good broom, and wondered if you two wanted in on it. If there's four of us, we figure we can maybe swing the new Nimbus model."

"I dunno," George began skeptically, "We've already put together a box of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes for her, including our newest Skiving Snackboxes ..."

Charlie tightened his grip.

"Then again," Fred wheezed, turning red from the pressure to his windpipe, "it would be fun to see Ron's face when he sees our baby sister get a broom that's better than his!"

"Good point." George replied, the words coming out a bit slurred as his face was smooshed against Charlie's chest. "All right, you great gorilla, geroff, so I can get to the till!"

Charlie obliged, patting each of the twins on the back good-naturedly. They did not look amused -- a rarity for them.

[Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George.]

"Maybe Ron would want to buy that box you made for Ginny to give to her himself," Bill suggested.

"That's not a half-bad idea," Fred replied, rubbing his chin speculatively as George fetched the money. "Granted, we don't pay him all that well, and he's off gallivanting with Hermione so much he might not have any pay left ..."

Charlie crossed his arms and gave Fred a dark look.

"Erm, I suppose we could give him an employee discount ...."

Charlie raised his brow, still looking menacing.

"Er ... and a family discount?" Fred suggested weakly.

The other brow raised expectantly.

"Ah ... aaand ... let him ... put it on credit? ... I-indefinitely?" his voice broke.

Charlie patted him on the back again, this time nearly knocking him over. "That'd be right nice of ya," he replied, cheerfully.

Lee came down the stairs just then, struggling with his shirt. He stopped at the foot, staring blearily at Charlie and Bill. Then he noticed George shutting the till, a few galleons in his hand.

"What's goin' on, 'ey? We bein' robbed?" he laughed.

"Something like that," Fred replied grimly, glaring a bit at Charlie, who smiled innocently.

"We're pitching in for Ginny's birthday present," George supplied. "This enough?" he asked Bill.

"Oh? What are you getting her?" Lee asked.

"New broom," Bill answered as he dug into his pocket for what he and Charlie had already put together. "Well, still a bit short for the newest Nimbus, but--"

"Count me in!" Lee told them with a grin, and headed for the till himself. "Ginny was nearly as good a seeker as Harry, and I'm sure she'll be a fantastic chaser!"

"But you're not in school anymore, Lee!" Bill protested.

He shrugged. "Once a Gryffindor, always a Gryffindor. Besides, I'm part of the family too, aren't I?" he added as he handed over his share, and Bill thanked him, touched by the gesture.

Fred mock-sniffed and pretended to wipe a tear form his eye. "Lee, I didn't know you cared!"

George threw an arm around Lee companionably, and quipped, "I guess this means you'll have to go red now." He tousled the boy's dreadlocks for emphasis.

"Hey, that might be a grand idea for a new product!" Fred offered, serious. Bill could swear he could see the gears turning in his younger brother's head.

"Yeah! Sweets that change your hair colour!" Lee was nodding, excited. "Much easier than dyeing it!"

A knock at the door interrupted them. It was Angelina Johnson. She pointed at her watch with a mock frown. Behind her were Katie Bell and Alicia Spinnett.

Fred looked at his own watch. "Oy, we're late to open!" He rushed to let their girlfriends/assistant shopkeepers in.

Bill waved for Charlie to follow him out. "C'mon, Gorilla, Quality Quidditch Supplies is probably open now too."

* * *

"Bloody hell!" Ron hit his fist against the brick wall in frustration.

"Ron!" Hermione chastised him, smiling apologetically at the woman walking by with her child.

"Well, it's ridiculous! We came all this way, and now we can't even get in?!"

Hermione had suggested they go to the Tower of London, but when they got there, they'd discovered that no one under the age of 16 was permitted in without an adult. While Ron was sixteen now (he had been since the 1st of March), Hermione wouldn't be sixteen until the 19th of September. And though Ron was old enough to go in alone, apparently you had to be at least 18 to accompany a "child". Well, at least it hadn't been a matter of money that kept them out -- he'd done a bit of work for Fred and George here and there, and been sparing with his earnings, so he could do things just like this with Hermione. But even if Ron had been old enough to get them into the Tower, in order to prove his age, he would have been required to show an I.D. -- something Hogwarts students didn't have anyway.

That last point was lost on Ron, though. "Reckon you should have invited Viktor here this summer, he could have gotten you in. …" he muttered. Viktor Krum, whom Hermione had dated, after a fashion, in her fourth year, had been out of school for over a year.

Hermione, feeling a little too pleased with Ron's apparent jealousy to get angry back herself, simply pointed out, "Well, I didn't go visit him, last summer -- if you'll recall, I spent quite a bit of the holiday with you, at number twelve. So I don't see why you'd think I'd want to invite him here, this summer."

Ron, suddenly nervous (and often a bit thick about such things), failed to notice what might be inferred by her words, and instead asked a certain question that, if he'd only been able to grasp it, he would have realised was already answered. "So … does this mean you don't … er … fancy Viktor?"

Again, Hermione was too appreciative of his jealousy to snap at him. Instead, she sounded bemused as she reminded him, "I told you before, Viktor and I are just friends."

"I think he thinks of you as a good deal more than a friend, Hermione," Ron told her darkly, obviously thinking she was fooling herself.

She had to turn her head away to hide her sudden grin. Oh, she was enjoying this far too much. "She's like a sister to me" my arse! Quickly composing herself, but still pretending to be watching the people walking by, she replied, a little dramatically, "Oh, I suppose you're right. But I just don't feel the same way about him."

"You don't?" Ron asked her, unable to hide the hopefulness in his voice.

"No," she told him lightly, as if he'd asked her nothing more than if she thought it was going to rain.

His heart beating a mile a minute, Ron steeled his shoulders in an effort to bolster his courage. Looking at the crowd milling by, he asked, attempting to sound nonchalant, "So … is there a-anyone … that you, er … do fancy?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, holding his breath.

"HARRY!!"


Author notes: Poor Ron. Of course things aren’t what they seem. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. ^_^

The background for this chapter's illustration is a manipulated photo of a real shop -- you all should know by now how much I hate drawing backgrounds.

Next chapter, Ron, Hermione meet up with Harry and Petunia, Molly gives the twins a good talking to, Pansy pays Draco a visit, and Bill makes a decision.