Harry Potter and the Cracked Reservoir
Chapter 8: Friends and Friendlier
By Musings of Apathy
Chapter 8: Friends and Friendlier
Thanks to my Beta’s Donalddeutsch, Cateagle, Sparky40sw and Kat Armstrong.
The twins, A.K.A. Gred and Forge were grinning wildly after promising to help Ginny and Harry anytime with a little pranking.
Ginny told the twins about an obscure, Marauders era, pranking spell which she had been gleefully taught by one of the originals and asked them to perform it on the two Gryffindor Prefects. They were only too happy to use anything from their idols and agreed immediately.
Ron and Hermione were talking off to the side, or at least they were muttering words punctuated with nervous grins and blushing. Of course, Ron just had to add in to the adolescent scene warning glares at his best male friend. This would be the perfect time for a lesson.
Suddenly they were wrapped in a magic mist that drew them together, arms wrapped around each other and glued together, no gap between.
"Hey," Ron screamed, "Wha’z going on?"
"Ron, don’t yell," Hermione admonished him. "It hurts my ear."
"But…"
"Yes, I want to know who did this and why," Hermione insisted, "but busting my ear drums is not going to help. Everyone can hear just fine."
"Oh," Ron said in a normal, if a little raised voice, "Who arranged this?" he asked, over enunciating every syllable.
Ginny stepped forward with Harry in tow, their hands interwoven.
"I arranged this," Ginny claimed. "You both need to learn to not meddle with other’s relationships or potential relationships. Hermione, you told both Harry and myself, separately, that the other was not interested. While you ‘thought’ that was accurate at the time, you had no business butting in. Thanks for the help but that almost stopped this before it ever started."
Hermione grimaced.
"And Ron, dear brother," Ginny continued. "You have been glaring at the back of Harry’s head like you wanted to hurt the man who would dare to want to date your little sister. Well, too late now. You seemed to approve of this before it happened with your hints, but you have no say in either of our lives unless we say you do."
"Oh, please," Ron said, "I doubt that the others approve any more than I do. You’re our little sister."
Hermione winced at this. After all, the Weasleys were known to have a temper and the youngest was the example to prove the rule. Scary as she was, not even the twins would consciously cross her.
"Brother, dearest," Ginny said in a cool voice. "The others know better than to mess with me and they know that Harry can’t be intimidated by the likes of them."
"Ok, fine, now let us out," he said, hoping that she was appeased.
"I am afraid that I can’t do that," she said with her chin high. "You two have to figure out how to get out of that. The spell can’t be magic’d open. No words will save you two."
By now Mrs. Weasley had made her way to the front of the audience.
"Ginevra Weasley," Mrs. Weasley bellowed, "please do not tell me that you have been performing magic outside of school."
"No, Mum," she said in her responsible daughter voice, "I know better than to use magic outside of school unless it is life or death. I got responsible adults to help."
Harry laughed and then muttered into her ear, "Responsible?"
Ginny elbowed him lightly in the ribs.
"Fred and George Weasley!" came the Weasley matriarch’s yell as she turned to the twins. The crowd had the decency to wince at this but Fred and George put on their best innocent face and turned to her.
"Yes…"
"…mum?"
"Why did you agree to hex your brother and Hermione?" their mother asked.
"We would…"
"…refuse our dear…"
"…sister nothing."
"She is…"
"…nothing to be…"
"…trifled with."
"Okay you two, take the hex off them this instant," Mrs. Weasley insisted.
"Well…"
"…as Ginny just…"
"…told us. The spell cannot be lifted…"
"…with magic. Only certain other activities…"
"…that are quite fitting…"
"…can end this."
Ginny motioned to how the couple was linked and a light could almost be seen going off above Mrs. Weasley’s head.
Harry and Ginny were both surprised when she chuckled.
"What?" asked Ron, who didn’t seem to be struggling, "How is the spell ended?"
"Ron…" Hermione said trying to get his attention, as she seemed to figure it out.
"What do we have to do, Ginny?" Ron asked again.
"Ron…" Hermione tried again to get his attention.
"Fred, George, tell me now."
"Ron!" Hermione said more forcefully, but Ron still did not notice.
Harry simply stepped forward and turned his best male friend to face his best female friend. Hermione blushed, tilted her head and then put her lips on the redhead’s lips. Ron was stunned into paralysis.
Harry reached forward again and tilted Ron’s head the opposite way to Hermione so that their noses wouldn’t collide.
Ron broke out of his paralysis and returned the kiss with enthusiasm, closing his eyes.
The entire yard broke into sidesplitting laughter. Fred and George were supporting each other to keep from falling down as the pair continued to kiss.
Harry got a look on his face and turned to Ginny.
"Gin, as good as it is that they have settled their…differences, I can’t watch this," Harry said. He picked up a party hat that had fallen to the ground, turned his back to the audience and turned it into a portkey before placing it on Ron’s head. The kissing couple then disappeared with a pop.
"Harry, where did you send them?" asked Ginny.
"Happy birthday, Harry."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry answered.
"Miss Weasley," Professor Dumbledore, "that was an excellent hex."
"Thank you, sir," she said.
"I have not seen it in many a year," the Professor reminisced. "In fact the last time that I saw it, or I assume that it was what they were talking about, they were stumbling over their words so, was when a certain Mister Black locked a certain Mister Potter and Miss Evans in a closet in their seventh year."
Harry chuckled, happy that he had recovered somewhat from his deep grief for his Godfather and now could remember the good memories of Sirius when he thought of him not just the bad. He was always glad to add to those good memories.
"Did you not know about the traditional closet use with that spell?" asked the Professor.
"Oh, I knew about it," Ginny said. "I used it on a couple of Hufflepuffs that had been dancing around each other in my year for the better part of two years. I locked them in a closet and didn’t unlock it for three hours. They were kissing when I unlocked it."
Harry was shocked, "It took them three hours to figure it out?"
"I don’t know how long it took them to figure it out," Ginny said. "I only said that they were kissing when I unlocked it after three hours. They could have figured it out immediately."
"Well, I guess that the tradition is continued, at least," Harry said.
"Why is that, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.
"Oh, I portkeyed them to the hall closet. Mrs. Weasley always locks it when guests are here."
Harry grinned and the Headmaster chuckled.
"That was quite a good spell you performed when you arrived," Professor Dumbledore said.
"Yes, Potter, quite good," Mad Eye Moody said as joined the small group. "Constant Vigilance!" he yelled.
"Where did you find it, Harry?" the Headmaster said, unfazed.
"Earlier this week I found it in some Auror text books," Harry said, not mentioning where he had found the books.
"Very good, Harry," Professor Dumbledore said. "You almost knocked everyone over with your first spell and hexed the remaining before they could get a shield up. Quite an excellent performance."
"Yes, Potter," Mad-eye said. "I was hit with a quite powerful petrification spell."
"Thanks," Harry blushed and then turned to his Headmaster, "Professor Dumbledore, where were you? You weren’t in the crowd to greet me with the surprise. Were you hiding because you knew that this would happen?"
"Yeah," Ginny said. "Where were you? You’re the one who said that he would love the surprise. Everyone loves surprise parties, you said."
The Headmaster’s eyes sparkled at this revelation.
"Well, Harry," the Professor said, "Miss Weasley did try to convince me that you may not be used to happy surprises, but, alas, I am afraid that I forgot my party hat on the kitchen counter and it would have been improper for me to appear without the proper headwear. I am afraid that I did miss your dramatic entrance."
Moody eyed the Headmaster narrowly before Ginny laughed.
"Of course, sir," Harry replied with a smile, matched by Ginny. "One wouldn’t want to be improperly attired for an event such as this seems to be," Harry chuckled as he looked around at all of the party hats worn by everyone but Professor Snape, who looked only like he would have rather spent his morning elsewhere. Harry even felt his own head to find a hat there, which he didn’t remember installing.
"Gentlemen, and I do use the term loosely," Ron said, addressing his brothers, "I have a proposition."
"What do you propose…"
"…dear brother? Or…"
"…is your proposition…"
"…for the young lady…"
"…on your arm?"
Hermione blushed, "Quit it guys," she admonished the twins. Ron had apparently made it official and asked her out after the kiss(es?).
"No," his ears blushed as well, "I propose that we have a little contest to welcome Harry into the family properly."
"What are you planning, Ronald?" asked Hermione in a warning voice.
"Yes, quite right Hermione, this does sound interesting. What are you planning, Ronald?" George said, purposefully ignoring her intended tone.
Ron spoke up, choosing to defend himself to Hermione after he finished, "I propose a contest between the six of us in pranking Harry. The person that conceives the best prank will be acknowledged by the others as the best."
"The person? Can we work together?" asked Fred.
"Only one person plans it, with help from your significant others if you wish, but all of us will help when necessary with execution as instructed by the planner when asked."
Percy, who was, as a rule, against pranking, had to put his two knuts in, "Ron, we should not be acting so immature toward Harry. We should just accept him and not try to mess this up for Ginevra."
"Oh, pish. Our goal isn’t to break them up," Ron stated. "It’s to initiate our good friend into the family. It’s a family tradition to be pranked. We all have from the time that Bill first pranked Charlie when Charlie was just four years old by making his hair turn pink."
"How did you know about that?" asked a shocked Bill.
"Dad found it hilarious," Ron said, "and told me about it a couple of years ago in the shed. For some reason he was proud of you, Bill."
"Besides, Percy," Charlie added, "we will all agree to make sure that young Harry is not harmed in any permanent way and it would be a good way for you to show that you are truly a Weasley, if you can come up with a true Weasley prank."
"Well," started Percy, "how would we quantify the best prank?"
"Ever the bean-counter, eh Perce?" Charlie said. "Don’t worry; which ever prank has the most effect on Harry will be the winner. We’ll ask him at Christmas, as he’ll probably be invited by mom and she won’t take ‘no’ for an answer with all of us on the isles this year."
"How will he be able to identify which prank is which?" Bill asked.
"Calling cards?" offered Ron, "We could leave calling cards to say who each prank belonged to."
"Well, then, we might as well tell Harry from the beginning," said Charlie.
Hermione decided to join the conversation on this point.
"Of course you have to tell Harry from the beginning. That is the only way that you will be able to survive this."
"What do you mean?" asked one of the twins.
"Harry is one of the most powerful wizards in the world. He has faced Voldemort," the group winced, "more times than any other wizard and through skill and luck has survived to some type of victory each time."
"Hermione, how do you work out that he was victorious against You-Know-Who the last two times?" asked Ron.
"Simple Ron, Voldemort’s goal from the beginning has been to kill Harry and so anytime that they face each other and he walks away he is somewhat victorious," answered Hermione. "Lastly, he is intelligent and the only son of the Marauders; Moony, Padfoot and Prongs, and if I am not mistaken, if there is any pranking journals to be had, he has just inherited the mother-lode."
Ron and the rest nodded, confirming Hermione’s logic on the definition of a victory. They had to concede that surviving was a good accomplishment, in this case.
"Intelligent, Hermione?" asked Percy after a pause.
"Yes," Hermione said, "I study more than twice as much as he does in Defense Against the Dark Arts and he always does better than I do. And on the other subjects he’s not that far behind me. If not for his yearly distractions and near constant headaches from his scar he would probably surpass me in the other subjects as well."
"What about potions?" asked Charlie after he rummaged through what he remembered Ron saying about school. "According to Ron, he doesn’t do to well in there."
"You would not have done well either," Hermione said, "if the teacher had a personal grudge against you and would spill or vanish your potion when you manage to make a good one. Professor Snape constantly hovers over Harry trying to make him mess up. Last year alone he received several zeros when Snape broke his vial when Harry turned them in."
Everyone shuddered. They had all experienced Snape and his teaching methods.
"And he's still passing the class?" Percy asked.
"Yes, he is," Hermione said. "He’s learned to mostly tune the Professor out when he’s making the potions. Of course he still loses around a hundred points a week for Gryffindor just by being in potions. The very first day of our very first year, Snape took points from Gryffindor for Harry not paying attention when he actually had his head down taking notes of what was being said and because he didn’t already know certain potion ingredients. Snape accused him of skating by on his fame, which at that time he hardly knew existed."
"How could he not know that he’s famous?" asked Bill, as amazed as the rest that Harry could have been ignorant of the society his parents had grown up in and the role he played in it.
"He didn’t grow up in this world, Bill," answered Ron, "In the world he grew up in he was not allowed to ask questions and was told daily that he was worthless and a freak. He thought, until his eleventh birthday, that his parents were killed in a car accident. The-Boy-Who-Lived grew up as little more than a house elf, living in the cupboard under the stairs and cooking the family meals and doing all of the chores."
"He entered the wizarding world thinking himself completely worthless," continued Hermione. "He wasn’t depressed about it, it just was. This, gentlemen, is his first ever birthday party. The first real birthday gift he ever received was his owl Hedwig from Hagrid on his eleventh and he had never had an opportunity to give a gift until the first Christmas at Hogwarts."
The thought of such a life depressed the previously jovial mood of the brothers.
"But, mind you, he always picks excellent gifts," Ron said with glee.
"Well, he loves to give," Hermione said on her turn. "I doubt that he ever had any money at all before he got his letter."
"What do you mean?" Bill asked, perplexed. "The Potters were well off."
"But the Dursleys didn’t know that and would have taken his entire fortune if they’d had the chance," Ron said, "Have you ever seen his vault? I doubt that he could guess to within a thousand galleons how much money he has."
"Well, Ron," Hermione added, "he’s never worried about money. As a kid he never had any to even buy a piece of candy and after his letter he just knew that it had to last for seven years. In the summer before his third year he looked at that Firebolt in the window of that quidditch store but never bought it because he wasn’t sure if he would have enough for his school years. Even now that he has inherited from Sirius, I doubt that he will treat himself to much more than his godfather told him to."
"Well," said one of the twins, "I hope Sirius told him to buy a new wardrobe, because, except for wizard robes, he doesn’t have anything nice."
"Ginny’ll help him with that," Charlie said with confidence.