Harry Potter and the Dynasty of the Wand by Lady Snuffles
Chapter Notes: Romance is in the air with Valentine’s Day around the corner. What will Charlie do when he finds Harry is planning something special for Ginny?
Disclaimer: You’ve all heard the drill before...It all belongs to Jo.
After the rocky start of January, life at Hogwarts continued on like normal, with the exception of Potions. Contradictory to Ginny’s harsh comment the night before, Charlie’s first class was a success. As it turned out, Charlie’s Potion skills were better than Harry and Ron combined and half as good as Hermione’s.
“Alright class,” he said at the beginning of Harry, Hermione and Ron’s lesson. “I am Charlie Weasley, former seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, professional dragon tamer, brother of Bill, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny Weasley, and your new Potions Master.”
Hannah Abbot raised her hand and asked, “May I ask where Professor Snape is?”
“If only I knew, Miss...”
“Abbot, Professor.”
“Miss Abbot, as I was saying, if I knew where Severus Snape was, I’d give him a right kick in the arse.” All but three people in the classroom gasped; amazingly enough Hermione was one of them, and unsurprisingly Harry and Ron were the other two. Instead, they all let out laughs that quickly sufficed into chuckles under their breath, seeing that the rest of the class didn’t feel the same way about Charlie’s statement.
The class looked back at their new Potions Master to find him smirking at his brother, his brother’s girlfriend, and his future brother-in-law. “Do you find something funny, Harry?”
Harry let out another snort of laughter before saying, “Yeah...you said that you’d kick Snape’s arse...you just...” Harry paused to catch his breath, “...went and said it...”
“What Harry means,” Hermione clarified, “is that you just told the entire class that you’re holding a grudge against Professor Snape.”
“Well Hermione, I’m not going to pretend that I like him. I’ll be the first to admit that I never liked Snape, and I never will,” Charlie explained.
Justin Finch-Fletchy raised his hand and asked, “Professor, not that I like Potions or anything but, shouldn’t we start the lesson?”
“Right you are, sir,” Charlie said opening his potions book. “Would you all turn to page three hundred and seventy four in your text, please?”
“Wolfsbane potion?” Ron asked excitedly, being the first to find the page.
Charlie nodded his head and looked around the class room. “Can anyone other than, Ron, Hermione or Harry tell me the properties of the wolfsbane potion?” Not a single hand was raised causing Charlie to sigh and say, “Go for it, Hermione. I know you want to.”
Smiling at Charlie, Hermione said, “While the potion doesn't cure the human to wolf transformation, it does prevent the extremely dangerous dementia which would otherwise accompany the alteration from human into werewolf.”
“Very nicely done. Ten points to Gryffindor.”
“Isn’t this a seventh year N.E.W.T. level potion...Sir?” Hermione asked suspiciously.
Charlie again nodded his head. “Yes, but Professor McGonagall told me that your year, despite what Professor Snape might have told you, has had the best marks in potions in the forty years she’s worked here. She and I both decided that we will start more advanced potions this term. With that said, get to work. This is going to take over a month so you are allowed to take your time. Be precise, if you aren’t the potion will end up tasting like a rather odd citrus juice and will force you to vomit something that looks like purple jelly. And I’ll have you know it doesn’t taste like and jam I’ve ever had.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
February rolled around and the wolfsbane potions were due to be ready after the next full moon. So far, Harry was very proud of his potion; it was supposed to be a majestic sapphire whereas his was more of a royal blue. In reality it was the same color, but in the eyes of Hermione, being two shades off made it the wrong hue.
As usual, teachers assigned so much homework that Harry had to take two trips from his dormitory to the common room so he could carry all his books. Ginny on the other hand, had to take three trips with her O.W.L. exams being at the end of the year. Her stress-overload was being taken out on Harry, only because Ginny had recently stopped blocking out all of her unnecessary thoughts.
For instance, the day before Valentine’s Day Harry heard most of Ginny’s morning routine. Damn, mornings suck...where is my hair brush? I know I put it there last night but was that before or after dinner? I swore it was on the table...or did I put it in the drawer? Ha! It was in the drawer...now where’s my damn hair binder? Merlin, mornings suck! Oh! There it is. Now I need my Arithmancy-
Gin...I love you to death, but you’re doing it again. At this point Harry was about ready to march up to her dorm and make her go back to bed.
Sorry, Harry. Where are you?
In bed, I usually don’t wake up for another hour.
Oops...oh well, you can come down to breakfast early with me then.
Harry sighed and looked at the canopy of his four poster bed before responding, Alright, give me four minutes.
Four?
Yeah, three for laying here, looking at the ceiling and one for getting dressed and walking down the stair case.
Four minutes later Harry was sitting on the arm of a chair waiting for Ginny, a very grouchy expression on his face. Once Ginny came down the stairs she smiled at Harry sweetly and his expression hardened.
Ginny frowned playfully and said, “Good morning to you too, Mr. Grumpy.”
“If you hate mornings that much, why do you get up so early?”
“Because it’s refreshing,” Ginny toyed. Grabbing his hand she led Harry down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Once there Harry was in a far better mood, and much more awake. This was caused by a stop in the third floor broom cupboard, which lasted a good five minutes, at least.
“I’ve got something special planned for tomorrow night. Can you pass the bacon please, Gin?” Harry said attempting to be sly.
“Really?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes, I’m quite hungry,” Harry joked.
Ginny slapped him on the shoulder playfully and said, “Very funny, Harry.”
“I thought it was,” he dallied on.
“But really, what are you planning?”
“A candle lit dinner, up in the East Tower.”
“The East Tower? I don’t believe I’ve ever been up there.”
“Personally, I’d never really heard of it until I read it on the map,” Harry confessed. With Ron’s request to use the Room of Requirement, Harry had to study the Marauders Map for hours to find somewhere the students and staff of Hogwarts infrequently or never went. This led him to the East Tower. Harry had gone up there the day before to check it out and see if it was useable. The tower itself was slightly spooky but once at the top Harry found that it was the perfect spot for a candlelight dinner, underneath the stars. “But that’s the whole point right there. It’s the perfect spot and we won’t be disturbed at all.”
“Well I will love wherever we are as long as I’m with you,” Ginny said giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.
Harry picked the piece of bacon off of Ginny’s plate and popped it into his mouth. Ginny looked at him with a disapproving look on her face.
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, “What? I did ask you to pass the bacon.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At exactly six o’clock the next evening, Harry was waiting for Ginny at the bottom of the girls’ staircase. He should have known better than to be on time. Ginny was always rushing to get things done, so being the gentlemen he is, Harry told her to take her time. He knew that she would happily oblige, so being punctual was a mistake. First he stood by the staircase, then he sat on the arm of the chair four minutes later, and eight minutes after that when Ginny finally came down the stairs she found Harry sitting on the couch fiddling with something in his hands.
Ginny cleared her throat to get his attention. Seeing her, Harry shoved whatever he was playing with into his pocket and jumped off the couch on to his feet. “You look great.”
“Thanks,” Ginny said with a wry smile on her face. She was wearing a pair of white pants and a red, v-neck tank-top, underneath a black cardigan sweater. Her hair was up in a bun but a single curl was loose and hanging down the side of her face. She tucked it behind her ear, (something, Harry noticed, she did when she was nervous) and shuffled her feet towards the portrait hole slightly.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Alright then.” Harry held out his arm and she took it in her’s as he led the way.
Ron looked in the common room, the great hall, and even asked Parvati to look in the girls’ dormitory, but he couldn’t find Hermione anywhere. He decided to look for her in the one place he had managed to avoid almost all year. He opened the door to the library and saw Hermione sitting at her favorite table next to the Ancient Runes texts, with her back to him.
Ron cleared his throat once he had walked up behind her. She turned around and smiled at him before saying, “You found me.”
“Were you hiding?”
“No, but I knew you were looking. Ginny came in here and told me so.”
“She didn’t tell you why did she?”
Hermione shook her head. “No, but I am curious.”
“Well, you’ll just have to stay that way.”
“Oh, come on Ron....you know you want to!”
Ron sighed and said, “All I came to tell you is that you need to be ready by seven o’clock tonight, up in the common room.”
“You’ve planned something else too? Even after the chocolates, yellow roses, and new book?”
“Um...basically, yeah.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek and left her sitting in the library, wondering what she did to get such a wonderful boyfriend.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ginny, I need help,” Hermione confessed at five thirty that evening.
“What can I do for you?” Ginny asked as she ran from her trunk, to the wardrobe and back again.
“Ron told me to be ready at seven, but I don’t know what I’m supposed to get ready for so I have no idea what to wear, how I’m supposed to do my hair, or if I should even bother,” she admitted. “I was hoping Ron might have told you what was going on tonight so you can tell me what to do.”
Without so much as looking at her, Ginny went back to the dresser again and pulled out a pink three quarter length shirt. “Here,” Ginny said throwing Hermione the shirt. “Wear this with your white tank-top and a black pair of pants.” Then she hurried into the bathroom. “Leave your hair down, Ron likes it that way.”
“He does?” Hermione asked incredulously.
Ginny sighed. “Hermione, just because you don’t like your hair doesn’t mean no one else does.”
Hermione then twirled her hair around her finger in deep thought as Ginny hastened back to her trunk for her brush and back into the bathroom again to use the mirror.
“Hey, Ginny? I distinctly heard Harry tell you, ‘not to rush to get ready,’ over lunch.”
“This is not rushing,” Ginny called from the bathroom.
“It looks like rushing to me!” Hermione hollered back at her.
Ginny came back into the dorm with her hair done up with a bun in the back and a single loose curl hanging down the side of her face. “Trust me Hermione, this is snail pace compared to what I look like when I’m rushing.”
“Alright then. Whatever you say,” Hermione agreed. “Well, seeing as I now have an hour and a half before having to be in the common room, is there anything I can help you with?”
Ginny looked around the room. “Yeah find the other one of these,” Ginny said, indicating the shoe she picked up off the ground. “I had it yesterday, but that doesn’t mean much.” She got down on her stomach to look under her bed as Hermione walked around it. She then walked around the rest of the dormitory, the bathroom and even under the other girls’ beds, twice. Finally when she was going to mark it as a lost cause, Hermione noticed that Ginny’s book bag was sitting at an odd angle. She picked it up and found a black and white shoe, identical to the one Ginny had shown her, hidden underneath it.
“Found it!” Hermione cried, tossing her friend the shoe. “What about me?” she asked, glancing at her own feet.
After a second of true thought Ginny said, “Anything that doesn’t have a heel...or give you blisters.”
“Thanks...I owe you one.”
“I know. Oh and the jewelry Ron gave you works well with that outfit so wear them. He’ll be glad to know that you do put them on.”
Hermione sat on the edge of Ginny’s bed and watched Ginny put on her jewelry; her sparkling engagement ring shining out everything else in the room.
“Ginny you look beautiful,” Hermione uttered.
“Oh, stop it,” Ginny blushed.
“No, Ginny. Seriously, you look absolutely gorgeous.”
Ginny blushed more before saying, “Well, thank you then.” She looked at the clock and suddenly burst, “Merlin! I’m late! Bye Hermione! Have fun tonight!”
“Oh, I will.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Ginny sat across the table from Harry as they ate dinner, (a light garden salad, fresh crab legs, french bread and chocolate cake) and wondered how she got so lucky as to have someone like Harry to spend the rest of her life with. The dinner conversation began with wedding details, and now that they were enjoying dessert, the discussion topic changed to children. Ginny was saying how raising a big family was something that she had always wanted to do.
“Four children minium.”
“Really? I thought that you’d want a smaller family because your’s is so big already,” Harry said bemused.
Ginny smiled at him. “Not at all. I love my family, and its size. The bigger, the better.”
“Do you have our entire future planned out then?” Harry asked her.
She thought for a minute before slowly saying, “No, I have no idea where we are going to live.”
Secretly keeping the news of his parents house to himself he asked, “So you know what we are going to name our children?”
“Well, I have a few options...nothing solid or anything, but...”
“What are they then?”
“Well for a girl, either Mackenzie or Molly, and for a boy either Liam or William.”
Harry sat and thought for a moment. “Can we name a son, Sirius?”
“Oh, of course, Harry...Sirius James Potter, that does have a nice ring to it.”
Ginny grinned and sipped on her wine as she saw Harry fidgeting with something in his pocket. He saw where she was glancing and put his hands up on the table.
“What do you have in there?” she asked with half a smile.
He smiled back and answered, “Just a little something for you,” as he pulled a long black velvet box from his pocket. He opened it up to reveal a silver bracelet linked together by what looked like little leaves, and vines; each leaf holding one large diamond or several small ones. It reminded Ginny of the willow tree down by the lake that she and Harry often sat under together .
“Oh, Harry. It’s beautiful! You really shouldn’t have!” Ginny managed eventually.
“Well, seeing as I didn’t get to buy your engagement ring, I figured I could spoil you with something else,” he reasoned. Harry took it out of the box as she held out her wrist. Once clasped she examined it closer. Inscribed into the end of the vine it read ‘Valentine’s Day 1997’ in small loopy letters.
“Harry it’s perfect. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, Gin.”
Soon after that, conversation became less as their mouths were being used in a different activity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Ron where are we going?” Hermione asked with her eyes closed.
“You’ll see,” was all he said. “Are your eyes still closed?” he questioned from behind her.
“Yes, but they won’t be for long if we don’t get there soon.”
“Alright, now step up,” he told her, closing the door of the Room of Requirement behind him. “Ok, now open you eyes.” Once she did, Hermione saw a picnic basket and a single yellow rose spread across a light blue blanket. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Hermione.”
“Thank you so much, Ron,” Hermione said hugging and kissing him. “It’s perfect...but wait,” Hermione took in her surroundings and noticed that they were by the lake, the sun was shining, and they were standing in springy green grass. “Ron, how-” Hermione tried to question.
Instead, Ron answered quickly with, “The Room of Requirement.”
“Oh, Ron, what a fantastic idea!” Hermione declared.
Then, she noticed two horses near the blanket; one brown and gold and the other black and white. Hermione reached over and pet the brown horse as she said, “Did Ginny tell you I love horses, too?”
“Yes, and when I asked why she said that you had a white, black, and brown horse named Calico, and you rode him nearly every day until he died.”
“He was my sole confident. He knew my life up, down, and backwards. I only wish I could’ve spoken horse...I never knew what he thought of me. I just rode him around my neighbor’s corn fields and talked.” She looked up at Ron and smiled at him lovingly.
“Are you hungry? Let’s eat, and then we can ride a little bit.” In answer Hermione nodded her head and sat on the blanket. Ron sat opposite her and gave her the flower that laid next to the basket. They sat, ate, and overall enjoyed being in the company of one another without a common room full of people surrounding them. Soon, Ron found himself on top of a horse with Hermione ridding by his side.
After what seemed like an eternity of trotting around the lake, the couple had finally come upon a little stream. Ron knew that the stream led to a waterfall, the most magnificent waterfall he had ever seen. The sound of the water crashing upon more water made the perfect music. “Woah,” Ron said to his horse, pulling on the reigns.
Hermione pulled back on the reigns of her own horse as she turned around. “What’s wrong.”
“There’s something I want to show you,” he answered climbing down from his horse. He tied the reigns to a low lying branch and Hermione followed suit with a curious expression on her face. Ron took her hand and began to walk up the stream.
As they neared the waterfall, Ron was getting more and more noticeably nervous. “Are you okay?” Hermione asked, noting the tips of his ears turning red.
“Yes, I’m fine...just a bit nervous is all.”
“Nervous for what?” she inquired.
“You’ll see.” As he said this he held back a branch for Hermione to walk ahead of him. On the other side was the most beautiful waterfall she had ever seen. “Ron, it’s wonderful.”
“Close your eyes,” he said. “What does it sound like?”
Hermione did as she was told and listened to the sounds of the water splashing over there, dripping over there. Then she put them all together and yet another smile spread across her face.
“It sounds like the first song we danced to when I was trying to teach you to dance.”
Ron nodded his head. “The song stuck, what can I say?” Ron took Hermione’s hands and wrapped them around his neck then placed his own around her waist.
Slowly they danced together, spinning in circles; Hermione had her head on his shoulder, and Ron was whispering into her ear the lyrics of her favorite song. “Only a fool would say....if you let me love you, it’s for sure I’m gonna love you....all the way....all the way.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Harry and Ginny finally broke their kiss after nearly asphyxiating themselves, twice. It was then that Harry realized the time. “Ginny?” Harry asked as she nuzzled into his chest.
“Mm-hm?”
“We were supposed to be back in the tower four hours ago,” Harry confessed.
Ginny shot up. “You’re kidding!”
Harry shook his head with a pained expression on his face.
“And I’m assuming that you don’t have your invisibility cloak on you?”
Harry shook his head again and said, “I lent it to Ron because he knew that they’d be after ten o’clock.”
As quickly as possible they both clambered off of the conjured couch, which Harry vanished along with the dinner table and chairs, and Ginny tried as best as she could to flatten her hair and straighten her clothes.
Quietly they made their way back to the common room, but just as the portrait of the Fat Lady was in sight there was a voice behind them. “I believe that answers are needed to the questions I’m going to ask you two.”
Why?! Harry asked Ginny desperately. Why did it have to be him of all people to catch us tonight of all nights? Why? Why!?
She didn’t answer him, she just gave him a look that said, ‘I’m sorry if he kills you, but there’s nothing I can do.’ She turned to her brother and said, “Good evening, Charlie.”
~A/N: Fluff!!!!!! Aren’t you excited? I’ve been a little fluffless lately, I’m sorry, I just can’t help it. Important things needed to happen which caused a little less lovey-dovey interaction. I will tell you that I love these little cliff hangers I give you. I was almost going to be as mean as leaving the end of the chappie at Charlie’s line...but I’m not quite that cruel. And I know, I’ve been terribly mean with ignoring all of your “What happened to quidditch?” emails, so I’ve dedicated nearly half of the next chapter to it. Here’s the quote: “Weasley is our King, Weasley is our King! He’ll never let the Quaffle in! Weasley is our King!”