Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter, and sadly...I never will.
“Ron! For the hundredth time, wake up!” Harry was standing at the side of Ron’s bed yelling into his ear.
“C’mon.....jus’ one more donu’,” Ron mumbled to Harry still not awake.
“Hermione!” Harry yelled at the top of his lungs. Ten seconds later Hermione’s head popped through the door way. “Can you do...whatever it is you do, to get him out of bed?”
“Oh sure!” she said cheerfully. Hermione walked over to the sleeping Ron and bent over him, whispering something into his ear that Harry couldn’t quite make out. Whatever it was, it worked, because the next second Ron was wide awake looking at Hermione in awe.
Slowly, it dawned on Ron that he was no longer asleep; the smile faded from his face, replaced by a playful frown, “You know, I hate it when you do that. You made me get my hopes up!”
“Well it was either me whispering that little wish in your ear or Bill coming up here and hexing you so you’ll never sleep again,” said Hermione in a tone that Harry thought was meant to be stern but sounded nothing remotely close to it.
“Thanks, Hermione,” Harry told her as she turned to leave.
“My pleasure,” she said. With a wink and a skip, she disappeared through the door.
Since when does Hermione skip? Harry thought to himself. “Well, now that your awake will you please get dressed and get your things downstairs before your mum has a bloody conniption?” Harry asked Ron.
“I suppose.” After he got dressed, Ron brought his trunk and owl into the kitchen. This year, everyone was being transported to King’s Cross Station by a portkey so the entire group was stationed around the kitchen table waiting to leave.
“Now, are you all ready?” Mrs. Weasley asked at nearly quarter to ten. “We’re going to get you all there early this year.”
“Does everybody have hold of the mop?” Bill asked after sending their luggage ahead of them. “Here we go. Three...Two...One!”
Harry felt the, by now, very familiar feeling pulling behind his navel. After the whirl of color Harry was surprised to find himself standing up. He was one of the few who did. Helping Ginny off her back she asked, “Can you teach me to do that?”
“To be honest, I have no idea how I managed it,” he answered.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
At ten to eleven Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the Weasley’s said their goodbyes.
“Make sure you all stay out of trouble this year. And be sure to write; I want to know how you’re doing and that everyone is alright,” Mrs. Weasley requested tearfully. “Harry, Hermione, that includes you too. Do you hear me?” she asked in her most motherly tone.
“Yes ma’am,” they answered simultaneously.
While Mrs. Weasley was preoccupied with Ginny and Hermione, Bill whispered to Harry and Ron, “Please keep the mischief to a minimum...I don’t know how much more Mum can take from either of you.”
“We’ll try our hardest,” Ron said giving Bill a hug.
“I won’t look for it, that’s for sure,” Harry told Bill shaking his hand firmly.
With a last hug from Mrs. Weasley, both she and Bill headed home. The four Gryffindors found an empty compartment on the train headed for their home away from home: Hogwarts.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Are the perfects coming back anytime soon?” Ginny asked Harry for what must have been the millionth time. No matter how many times she said it the words always came out differently.
“If you’re referring to Ron and Hermione as the perfects, instead of the prefects, then I really couldn’t tell you, Gin,” Harry answered. “You aren’t still sour about not getting prefect are you?”
“For the final time, Harry. I did-not want to-be a-prefect! And besides, I don’t want Fred and George calling me a prat like they do Percy. Do you really think I want to have anything in common with Percy?”
“Well obviously not,” Harry answered. “Why do you want Ron and Hermione to come back so quickly anyways? Aren’t you having fun with me?”
“Well, we were having fun until they came in here,” Ginny said pointing over to Neville and Luna who had fallen asleep next to each other on the seat. “It’s not like we can do anything we want with them in here.”
“I can’t help that,” he retorted watching her get up. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to um....go look for Ron and Hermione,” she answered, obviously lying.
“Do you really not like me that much?”
“You are really bad at figuring out the obvious aren’t you?” Ginny said looking at Harry expectantly. Was there ever a book written on how to interpret women’s actions? Harry thoughtfully questioned. He was completely lost. Much to Harry’s relief, Ginny continued, “And while I’m looking for them, I could look for an empty compar...”
“Oh! Oh, yeah! Sure,” Harry interrupted. He followed behind her and out the door. In the first compartment they passed was Colin Creevey. He was wearing the Gryffindor prefect’s badge.
“Hey, Ginny? If Colin’s a prefect why isn’t he at the meeting?” Harry asked her before they moved on.
“Not sure. Oi, Colin!” he turned from his conversation with fellow fifth years.
“Oh! Hi, Ginny. Harry. What can I do for you?”
“When did the prefect’s meeting let out?”
“Um. Probably ‘bout two hours ago,” he answered.
“Okay. Thanks, Colin.” After walking away, Harry asked, “So where do you suppose those perfects are?”
“Good question. Let’s find out.” Ginny wore the same adventurous smile that she had the night Ron and Hermione had laid everything out on the table.
Room after room they searched and searched. At nearly the back of the train Harry and Ginny found a compartment with the blinds down. “Do you think it’s them?” Harry asked Ginny.
“I’m not sure, but it’s worth a shot.” She slowly cracked open the door so they didn’t disturb whoever it was in the compartment if it wasn’t Ron and Hermione.
“OH MY GOD! I’m scarred for life!” Ginny all but screamed. Sure enough, Ron and Hermione were in the compartment, but they were also in each other’s arms wrapped in the most unsightly kiss anyone had ever witnessed. When Ginny’s panic reached the ears of the embraced couple, Ron and Hermione came to and realized that there were two unwelcome people in their compartment. Ron’s face went blank and Hermione blushed furiously.
Ron seemed to recover first. “Harry! A word please. Outside.” He sounded uncomfortably like Mr. Weasley. Harry, however, was already in the hallway, due to his girlfriend’s reaction. He found Ginny’s response so amusing his legs couldn’t hold his shaking body from the laughter, and he’d rolled out the door.
“You...and Hermione....Ginny scarred!” Harry was now in tears from the laughter.
“Get-a-grip!” Ron told Harry between slaps on the face. Harry calmed down so Ron could speak, or at least stop hitting him. “Harry, that makes it the second time you’ve walked in on us. You need a better hobby!”
“I wouldn’t be talking if I were you.”
“Well you aren’t me are you?”
“Thank the Gods!”
“You just better hope I don’t walk in on you and Ginny.” At this thought, Ron got a disgruntled look on his face. “I hope I don’t walk in on you either.”
“You probably wouldn’t want to,” Harry joked.
“You better not be serious, Harry. Because if you hurt my sister, I swear I’ll pound you to a pulp with Fred’s bludger bat.”
“You do that then, Ron. But keep in mind that the same goes for Hermione, and I’ll take George’s bat to knock you out with. Agreed?”
“Fine...anyways, back to my original point...I don't care where you go, as long as you get lost,” said Ron in an exasperated tone.
“Whatever. Ginny and I were just making sure you hadn’t died.”
“Alright, we’re alive and healthy. Buh-bye now!”
“Okay, okay. C’mon, Ginny. I can see we’re not welcome here. They want to be alone,” Harry laughed at his last words as he took Ginny by the hand and led her down the hallway of the train.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Sorry, Gin. No empty compartments. I suppose we should just head back to ours,” Harry told her about fifteen minutes later.
“Yeah, I guess,” she sighed.
“Don’t worry we have all year to do whatever we want together. And plenty of broom cupboards to choose from.”
The couple walked back to the first compartment they were in that day. When they got there, Harry and Ginny found three uninvited people, along with Neville and Luna, waiting for them.
“I'll try being nicer, Longbottom, if you'll try being smarter.” Harry looked over to Ginny for confirmation on the thought that had apparently gone through her mind too: Malfoy.
“Just because I can’t make a potion, have never manage to transform anything larger than a matchbox and couldn’t do a well produced charm to save my life doesn’t mean I’m completely incompetent.” By the way he said that, Harry almost thought that over the summer, Neville had been practicing things to say to Malfoy.
“Wow! You really used your brain on that comeback. Did it hurt? It is the weakest part of your body after all...”
“Not even a twinge,” Neville said, keeping his cool.
“Good, because a brain is a terrible thing to waste; I'm glad they didn't waste one on you.”
“Me too, because if they had, I would have such a big head that I might look like you.” Harry was amazed at how well Neville was keeping up.
Malfoy seemed taken aback. Before he could recover, Harry figured that this was a good place to intervene. “Hi, ferret! Have a nice summer?” Harry waited until Malfoy’s face turned from flustered red to storming fuchsia before saying, “You know what? Your head does seem to be larger than normal this year. Oh wait.” He paused and made a show of examining Malfoy’s head. “Ah, never mind, it is usually that big.”
“If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong, Potter.”
“How lovely,” Ginny butted in. “Now that we’re all acquainted why don’t you take your bodyguards Flobberworm and Troll with you and get out?”
“What would you do to us if we didn’t?” Malfoy asked semi-playfully and annoyed.
“This!” and Ginny, in a very Hermione-ish way, sent hexes and curses in their direction. None of them hitting but close enough to make the Slytherins run.
After Malfoy and his cronies left, Harry, Neville, and Luna all cheered in Ginny’s success on getting rid of Malfoy on her first try. “You never cease to amaze me, Gin,” Harry told her.
“I know.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The rest of the trip was spent playing Exploding Snap and with Neville’s new Gobstones set. Ron and Hermione came back when they were about fifteen minutes away from the school to change into their robes. After arriving at Hogsmeade Station, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Neville and Luna all somehow managed to squeeze into one carriage. Even though it was cramped, the six friends all enjoyed the trip up to the school. There was much tickling and pinching going on between the couples.
“Say, Luna? Who made the first move? You or Neville?” Ginny asked as they were walking up the front steps of the castle.
“You wouldn’t believe her if she did tell you. Which she won’t,” Neville said pointedly.
“Sure I would. Who was it?” Ginny asked again.
Luna looked at Neville for approval. He nodded his head with what looked like regret.
“It was Neville,” Luna admitted holding his hand tightly in her’s. The other four laughed heartily.
“Well I guess I believe it. I just didn’t expect it,” said Ginny with a little chuckle and wiping away a fake tear.
When they made it to the Great Hall, Luna parted from Neville, and the five Gryffindors sat down at their table. Harry saw Professor McGonagall bring out the three-legged stool and place the Sorting Hat on top of it. When the first years walked in, the entire hall went silent. They made their way up to the head of the Great Hall and stood in front of the hat. The rip at the brim of the hat opened and it began to sing it’s song:
But not before the Sorting Hat sings.
Now all students, young and old,
You must listen and do as you’re told.
Where you are placed will be a home,
A place where you can freely roam.
Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, Gryffindor and Slytherin
Any of these houses could soon become your kin.
Hufflepuff may need you there,
Your brains and courtesy, love and care.
To the house of Lady Helga you may go,
You’ll be welcomed more than you know.
In Ravenclaw’s colors of bronze and blue,
They are the sharpest of minds and will you.
Very clever and strong of heart,
Always willing their lore in part.
Then there is Gryffindor, strong, brave and true
No doubt in my mind, will they accept you.
Always yearning to learn and be heard,
They’ll be courageous and true to their word.
Lastly in Slytherin you may belong,
Others might say that this could be wrong.
However, don’t worry, you’ll be among friends.
These people will help you through to the end.
No need to fret, and worry not,
I will give you the perfect spot.
Listen up and listen clear,
Turn your head and lend an ear.
Throughout the summer silence stayed,
But soon the world will need our aide.
To fight the others; to stay alive,
The rules that are given, you’ll need to survive.
Do not fear to follow and lead.
Do not leave other’s hearts to bleed.
Be aware of all that has come before.
That is it, that is all, I shan’t say anymore.
So don’t be afraid for what lies ahead,
It will just be me inside your head.
Which house is your’s, I soon will shout.
So put me on and you’ll find out.
As the Sorting Hat ended it’s annual song, the Great Hall filled with an uproar of cheers and clapping, coming from every corner of the room.
“Did you hear what I heard? ‘Throughout the summer silence stayed,’” Harry looked from Hermione to his fellow classmates and back again. “Because it seems like no one else noticed.” Harry stared at Hermione, waiting for her to give the answer that would prove Harry’s sanity.
Through the pandemonium she answered, “‘Soon the world will need our aide.’...‘Be aware of all that has come before,’ I don’t know about you, Harry, but his makes perfect sense to me,” she answered quickly. “It’s obvious that nothing was supposed to happen this summer. Something is going to happen and it’s going to be big.”
“We’ll talk about this lat-” Harry started, but was interrupted by movement near the Staff Table.
Dumbledore stood and the Hall fell silent again. Professor McGonagall began calling names. Beginning with Abertson, Ashlynn (Hufflepuff) and ending with Yezren, Frederick (Ravenclaw), there was only one name that the Weasley’s knew: Prewett, Ariane (Gryffindor) was Ron and Ginny’s cousin on their mother’s side.
“I didn’t know she was coming to Hogwarts,” Ron told Harry as Ariane made her way down the table to where Ginny was sitting.
“Apparently you missed that conversation with Mum at dinner last night,” Ginny said.
“I was eating! You really think I can listen and eat at the same time?” Ron asked Ginny skeptically.
Ignoring his question, Hermione asked, “Why wouldn’t she come here?”
“She spent the first eight years of her life in France...I figured she would go to Beauxbatons because she would know it better. I guess it depends on location.”
Ariane squeezed in between Ginny and Neville. She gave Ginny a hug and blew Ron a kiss across the table. He smiled and gave a friendly wave.
“Ariane this is Harry, Hermione and Neville,” Ginny told her.
“Bonjour,” she said nervously tucking a strand of her long, champagne-blonde hair behind her ears. When Harry looked at her he had to take a double-take because of how much she looked like Ginny. It was like looking at a blonde reflection basically. “Eet iz very nice to meet you all,” Ariane spoke with a strong french accent. She sounded very much like Fleur Delacour only with slightly more enthusiasm in her words. Ginny leaned over to Ariane who whispered “‘Arry iz az cute az you said he waz.”
Ginny blushed as she realized Harry had heard every word her cousin had said. Harry leaned over behind Ginny and whispered to Ariane so that Ginny could hear too, “Only half as cute as Ginny is beautiful.”
Ariane giggled quietly as Harry kissed Ginny on the cheek. “I like ziz one better zan zat Michael boy, Ginny.”
“Me too,” Ginny whispered back.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When dinner was over Dumbledore stood for the last time that evening, and the Great Hall fell silent. Not one head was turned away from him.
“Another summer ends and another year at Hogwarts begins. To our first years, welcome. To our past students, welcome back. I am pleased to tell you that we have, yet again, a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher this year. May I please present to you all, Professor Victor Krum.”
“NO WAY!” were the first words out of Ron’s mouth. Hermione blushed at him. “You knew didn’t you?” Ron asked her.
“Well yes, but I wasn...”
“‘Wasn’t supposed to say anything,’” Ron mimicked her. “Sure, keep secrets from your boyfriend. That’s a good relationsh...”
“Ron we are not doing this here or now! Do you hear me?”
“Whatever,” Ron mumbled.
Dumbledore clapped his hands three times and the Hall quieted again. “Yes, Professor Krum, we are pleased to have you.”
Harry noticed how much he hadn’t changed. The only difference he could find was Krum’s facial expression. It was no longer hard and stony but soft and amused, happy even.
“I would also like to send out a few school rules. The first of all being that Mr. Filch has requested that any item bought from Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes is forbidden in the halls and classrooms. The second, as many of you already know, is that the Forbidden Forest is named that for a reason. Please do not enter the forest unattended by a Hogwart’s staff member for any reason. Thirdly, please remember not to use magic in the corridors before, between, or after classes. Fourthly...” the list went on for a few more minutes.
“Anyone who is interested in trying out for their house Quidditch team, please see your Head of House by the end of the week. Tryout dates will be posted by next Monday morning. Now, it is late and all of you need to be getting rest for your classes tomorrow. First years, please follow the prefects to your dormitories. Goodnight.”
~AN: It’s Krum! What do ya think? You can thank my sister, Natalie for another awesome idea for my story. Review please! I’ll respond to everyone. Quote from the next chappie: “Why did you have to be the center of attention?” -Ginny