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Harry Potter And The Twists Of Fate | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:All, All Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Fluff, Humor Warnings: Extreme Language, Sexual Situations, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 475 Summary: What if the fates let Harry's parents live that night he got his scar, plus gave him a younger sister and become friends with the Weasleys, especially Ron earlier. What would be different? Hitcount: Story Total: 324061; Chapter Total: 8879 Author's Notes: Here's the next chapter. It's another angst and fluff one. Enjoy and please review. |
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Chapter 49: Holiday blues As she came out of the fireplace in Potter Manor, Ginny just managed to stay on her feet. It was Sunday, two days after Christmas and most of the students, including the Potters and their friends, had gone home for the remaining week of the holidays. Ginny was looking forward to some ‘alone time’ with Harry while Ron was stuck at the Burrow doing chores. She brushed herself off and looked around. The living room was empty; however she could hear muffled talking coming from the kitchen. She went up to the door to the kitchen and peeked in. A smile broke out on her face at the sight that greeted her. Harry was seated inside the kitchen, feeding his youngest brother and sister their bottles as they lay in their basinets. He was facing the door but his concentration was obviously focused on the twins since he hadn’t acknowledged her presence yet, verbally or mentally. Ginny could see the bright smile on his face as he cooed and talked to them softly. “Hey. Andie,” Harry said, “You really like that, don’t you? That’s it, drink up. Soon, you’re going to be able to fly just like your big brother.” “Come on, Daisy,” he said, turning to his youngest sister, “You can finish this bottle. Yes, that’s a good girl.” Ginny’s smile turned into a grin. Harry was great with the twins. Over the last few months, whether she saw it visually or through their bond, Ginny had seen him treat them gently and lovingly, with no hint of annoyance, even when they happened to interrupt their time together. As a big brother, he was so different from Bill or George. As much as she loved her oldest brothers, they hadn’t been exactly shining examples of older brothers when she was little. Her mother often left her and her other brothers in the care of the oldest boys whenever she needed to leave the Burrow. However, as soon as her back was turned, Bill and George would disappear, leaving their younger siblings to fend for themselves. It was only when Ginny turned four that Bill paid her more attention, especially when he was home from Hogwarts. As she continued to gaze at her boyfriend-soul mate, Ginny was happy for Daisy and Andrew having an older brother who was willing to take care of them like this. He’d make a great dad one day. She hoped that would be only a few years from now. She recalled from Hermione and Rose’s research on the Bond that bonded pairs were allowed to marry once one of them became of age. That would make it only three more years for them to wait, until Harry turned seventeen. Ginny heard a noise behind her and turned, her wand appearing in her wand faster than lightning. “Whoa, hold on there, Ginny. It’s only me,” Lily said. Ginny felt her face turn red with embarrassment, “Sorry, Mrs,,,,er, Lily.” “That’s all right, Ginny,” Lily said, waving her apology away, “It’s good you’re alert and not taking your surroundings for granted. It’s sad that these times need that but hopefully, it won’t be for long.” “I hope so, too,” Ginny said. “Well, let’s leave the morose thoughts behind,” Lily said, “I need your help with a problem.” “What sort of problem?” Ginny asked, wondering why Harry had not mentioned any kind of problem to her. Lily sighed, “It’s Rose. Since she and Harry came home yesterday, she’s stayed in her room except for meals. Harry’s been too wrapped up with the twins to really notice so I’m not surprised that you don’t know about it. Why don’t you go talk to her? I haven’t been able to get anything out of her. Maybe you can.” Ginny nodded, “All right, Lily. I’ll go right up there and see if I can’t drag her out of there.” Ginny went up the stairs and down the hall to Rose’s door. She knocked on the door but didn’t wait for an answer before opening the door. Rose was lying on her bed, back to the door and facing the window. “Hey, Rose,” Ginny said, her voice bright and sunny, “what’s up. Mind if I come in?” When Rose didn’t answer, Ginny went in and closed the door behind her. She sat down on the bed, behind Rose. “Rose?” Ginny said softly, “What is it? Are you still down about Ron neglecting you at the Ball?” When Rose still didn’t answer, Ginny added, “Or are you mooning over one of your brother’s other roommates?” Rose stiffened but didn’t turn around or even say a word. Ginny gently touched her shoulder, “Hey, it’s all right. Merlin knows I’ve mooned over Harry a lot over the years.” Rose sat up and turned to her. Ginny wasn’t surprised to see her wiping her eyes. “Yeah,” Rose said, “I’ve seen you do that, a lot.” “So,” Ginny said, “Who is it who’s caught the fancy of Rose Potter, hm? It wouldn’t be, say, Seamus Finnegan? “What!” Rose said, “That bloody twit? He’s so in love with his Irish brogue. He acts like he’s Merlin’s gift to girls. He isn’t anything like N..” Rose gulped and her eyes widened as a smirk grew on Ginny’s face. “Hah! I thought so,” Ginny said, “You fancy Neville Longbottom.” “No, I don’t!” Rose said almost immediately, before turning red, “Well, um, maybe. Oooh! All right, I admit it. I like Neville, okay? Happy?” She flopped back down on her bed. “Didn’t you dance with him at the Ball?” Ginny asked, “What’s got your knickers in a twist, then?” Rose turned to look at her, “Yes, we danced. I thought it was a dream come true. Something like what happened to you and Harry. He even invited me to sit with him, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati.” “So, why are you so down now?” Ginny asked, “The boy you fancy asked you to dance with him even if he was at the Ball with someone else, yet you’re acting like your pet hippogriff died. Why for Merlin’s sake? You should be daydreaming about going to Hogsmeade with him.” “I would except it seems he just sees me as Harry Potter’s bloody pathetic sister,” Rose said, almost shouting the last three words, “Never mind we’ve been doing all that physical and magical training for the past summer.” Ginny raised an eyebrow, “And what brought you to that barmy conclusion?” “On our way back to Gryffindor Tower, I overheard Parvati asking Neville why he danced with me and he told her that he found it sad that Harry’s sister wasn’t enjoying herself.” Rose said, “Can you believe that? He didn’t refer to me by my name. He called me Harry’s sister!” Ginny patted her leg, “That’s too bad, Rose. I can sympathize. I think if it weren’t for the Bond, Harry might still be thinking of me as Ron’s little sister.” “Yeah, I’ve heard you complain about it for years now,” Rose said, “I wasn’t really sympathetic then, since it was my brother you were talking about. But, now I know exactly how you felt. It’s really bleeding awful.” “Well, you can’t stay in here all day, Rose,” Ginny said, “Mooning over a bloke whose too thick to realize what a great person you are.” “Yes, I can, Ginny,” Rose said, turning away from her. “Oh, no, you can’t,” Ginny said, “If you stay here much longer, Harry will realize you haven’t been out of this room other than at mealtimes. What do you think he’ll do if he finds out Neville’s hurt your feelings? You wouldn’t want Neville turned out of the Marauders, do you? Or worse, pranked by him and the others? I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt you. He seemed to care enough about you to see that you enjoyed yourself at the Ball, which is more than I can say for a certain brother of mine.” “Oh yeah,” Rose said, facing her again, “How is your git of a brother anyway? After that scene with Hermione in the common room, I haven’t seen hide or hair of him. Hasn’t done a runner, has he? I would, if I were him.” “Oh, Mum’s got him busy doing some chores at home,” Ginny said, grinning, “Some how she got wind of what he did and she wasn’t happy with the prat.” She looked at Rose speculatively, “How about you get off this bed and help me plan a little lesson for the wanker?” “All right, Gin,” Rose said, “Why not? Let’s get Harry, Fred and George in on it. I’m sure they can help us think of something great.” “Now you’re talking,” Ginny said, grabbing her hand and hauling her off the bed, “Come on.” Ginny was about to open the door when she stopped and looked at Rose, “One piece of advice though, Rose, I don’t think you should just lie around waiting for Neville to come to his senses. I mean, he may or he may not. In the meantime, I noticed a whole gaggle of blokes who were impressed with how you looked that night of the Ball. If one of them happened to ask you out, you should go on and go with him.” Rose looked at her, a bit uncertain and skeptical, “Are you sure?” “Of course,” Ginny said, “You should just enjoy yourself. Don’t let pining away for some clueless bloke, no matter how wonderful he may seem, keep you from getting to know other blokes. That’s what being a teenager is for, after all.” Rose looked thoughtful for a moment then she shrugged, “Okay, sure. I’ll give it a go, if someone asks me, that is.” Ginny smiled, “Oh, I’m sure someone will, just you wait. Now, let’s find that hot brother of yours and tell him our plans for that git of a brother of mine.” “Ginny!” Rose said, a grimace forming on her face, “Can you please not talk about my brother that way. It’s just so gross. Anyway, you probably already know where Harry is.” Ginny just grinned and led the way out of the room. When they got hold of Harry, they found him more than willing to give Ron a little lesson. He also agreed with the idea to get help from Fred and George. Harry also suggested approaching Sirius for some ideas. The rest of the day passed quickly with the three enjoying themselves as they watched over Daisy and Andrew. The next few days, Rose spent more time with her twin siblings, allowing Ginny and Harry to spend more time with each other. They spent it mostly cuddling and kissing, simply enjoying the presence of the other, though they sometimes practiced some spell work and dueling in the Manor’s Dueling Room. Ti and the Longbottom siblings came over after breakfast two days later. They played a great game of three-on-three Quidditch with Rose, Ginny and Harry. When Neville was placed on her team, Rose just barely managed to keep herself from blushing and her mind on the game. Maggie, on the other hand, was a bit nervous around Ti, especially during lunch. Luckily, Neville didn’t seem to notice and neither, it seemed, did Ti. Later in the afternoon, after the Longbottom’s and Ti had gone home, Harry was sitting on one of the lawn chairs on the porch with Ginny leaning against him and her head on his chest. As his arms encircled her, Harry nonchalantly asked her through their Bond, “So, when did my sister get interested in Neville?” Ginny was so shocked she hesitated for a moment before answering him verbally, “Er, what gave you that idea, Harry?” “Come on, Gin,” He said to her mentally, “I’ve noticed her turning a little red whenever he was around for the past year. She’s been hiding it well lately, but I could still see her hesitate a bit with him during the game today. I think she may have told you about it, though I can’t imagine how you were able to hide it from me unless she only told you recently.” Ginny sighed before answering him in his mind, “All right, Harry. You’re right about Rose having a crush on Neville. I’m not sure how long she’s had a crush on him but I believe it’s only been a few months. She just told me about it two days ago. Now don’t you go big brother on her, it’s her life. Anyway, Neville doesn’t know a thing about it.” “But he danced with her at the Ball!” “He did it as a friend, Harry. He saw her being miserable, what with Ron brooding over Hermione and Krum, and decided to help her. I doubt he’s interested in her like that. At any rate, that’s none of your business in the same way Ron has no business interfering in our relationship.” Harry thought about it for about a minute before replying, “All right, Gin. Unlike my git of a best mate, I trust my sister enough to let her make her own decisions about who she likes.” “That’s very mature, Harry,” Ginny said. She turned around in his arms and gave him a searing kiss, “Now, speaking of your git of a best mate, I just thought of another idea to teach him that lesson we’ve been meaning to.” ____________________________ ________________________________________ ___ The Potters and Weasleys celebrated New Year’s Eve three days later at the Burrow. Hermione, Sirius, Remus and Ti were invited to join both families, just like the year before. In addition, Samantha Turgis was also there, as Sirius’ guest. Arthur had been thinking of inviting Dumbledore but Molly and Lily were both still upset with the elderly wizard for letting Harry take part in the Triwizard Tournament, and therefore that idea was immediately quashed. Ron was quiet the whole evening as his gaze shifted nervously from Hermione to Rose and back again to Hermione. Neither girl paid him any attention, which made him even more nervous. Only the adults were talking to him. Even his appetite was diminished. At midnight, Harry and Ginny shared another sweet kiss as fireworks brought by Sirius and Remus exploded above the backyard. Ron looked at them with barely any emotion on his face then said a mumbled goodnight to everyone in the vicinity before heading up to bed in his bedroom. As he disappeared into the house, Harry exchanged looks of anticipation with Fred, George and Ginny. A few minutes later, a very loud scream ripped through the house. “That sounded like Ron,” Molly said, as she started to run toward the kitchen door, “He’s being attacked!” Arthur looked around, confusion on his face, “Who could it be? The wards all seem to be intact.” James, Remus and Sirius had pulled out their wands and started following Molly. Sirius looked over his shoulder and said, “You kids just stay here with Lily.” Just as Molly reached the kitchen door, Ron rushed out of the house, nearly knocking his mother over. He was barefoot, dressed in a set of pajamas of a glaring orange color and there was a look of pure terror on his face. “S-s-sp-spiders!” he yelled, “They’re all over my room!” Before anyone could say anything else, a puff of smoke surrounded Ron. When it cleared, Ron had undergone several outrageous physical changes. His hair had lengthened and changed to a silvery-blonde color. He was now dressed in a long evening gown and a pair of high heels had appeared on his bare feet. In fact, he could have been Fleur Delacour’s twin at the Ball. As the adults stood with stunned looks on their faces, Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, and Rose broke into loud bouts of laughter. The others looked at them, bewildered for a moment before one of them cottoned on to what had happened. “You guys pranked Ron,” Sirius said and a grin formed on his face, “I guess this was for what happened at the Ball, eh?” “You got that right,” Harry said, in between laughs, “Hey, how’d you find out about that?” “Oh, someone who’s like a son to me happened to mention to me that Ron ignored his date for most of the evening then got into a row with Hermione,” Sirius said, smirking at Ron who was glaring at Harry. Fred and George started taking turns extolling Ron’s ‘beauty’ and his lovely outfit. This was enough to cause Sirius, Remus, Ti, Hermione, Bill, George and James to join in the laughter and Harry, Ginny and Rose to drop to the ground, rolling around in their own mirth. Even Arthur, Sam and Lily were smiling. Only Percy looked unaffected. “Boys!” Molly said to Fred and George, “Stop that this instant.” Unfortunately, her usually stern manner was offset by her attempts to stifle her own laughter. “Mum! Not you, too!” Ron whined, “Someone get me out of this thing!” He started stamping his foot, causing him to lose his balance and fall over since he wasn’t used to walking in high heels. That caused everyone to burst into fresh gales of laughter, including Molly. Percy just snorted. “Fine!” Ron bellowed, “I’m getting out of this myself.” With that, he got up and slowly made his way back into the house, his gait unsteady due to the heels. Everyone else was now out of breath from laughing so hard. “Oh, that was really good, Harry,” Rose said, in between taking in breaths, “It was just as good as what we did to Malfoy at the end of last year.” Harry just shook his head, still trying to catch his breath. “Ron should be glad we did it here,” Ginny said, smiling, “instead of at Hogwarts at the welcoming feast.” “So, what charms did you use on him?” Bill asked, “What was that about the spiders in his room?” “Well,” Rose said, “we used a modification of a glamour charm and a hair coloring charm, together with a clothes transfiguration charm.” “I actually cast the charms on him last night while he was sleeping,” Ginny said, “Since we wanted it to happen tonight without him knowing who was involved, we attached a trigger charm to all three charms, keyed to saying the word ‘spider’ three times. He must have said it at least twice on his way down. Remember, spiders are the one thing he’s really terrified of, in fact, the only thing besides food that will get him running.” “So when he came down yelling about the spiders…..,” Sirius said. “….he triggered the spells,” James said, grinning. “How’d you get him to yell about spiders?” Remus asked. “Well,” Harry said, snickering, “I sneaked up to his room when Molly called us for dinner and cast an illusion charm on all his things. As soon as he lighted the room up, every surface of his room looked like it was crawling with loads of the little buggers.” “Brilliant work,” Remus said, “That was good teamwork, too.” “Yes,” Sirius said, “Really good work worthy of the Marauders.” “Thanks,” the teen Marauders all said together. “Well,” Molly said, “I better go and see if he’s back to normal and he doesn’t see any more spiders.” She looked at the children, “I don’t usually condone this type of thing, but for once, I’ll let it pass without any scolding.” She then walked off to towards the house. The other adults moved off to discuss other things while the children gathered together, still discussing the prank on Ron. “Of course, like Gin said, he should be glad we didn’t do this in front of the whole school like I wanted to,” Rose said, “Selfish prat. As it is, it’s not near enough payback for what he did.” “Leave it along, Rose,” Hermione said, a smirk on her face, “Embarrassing him in front of his family is payback enough for me. I doubt he’d forget it anytime soon, considering the prank was close to the one we did on Malfoy. You know he’ll hate that when he realizes it. That should keep him in line.” “All right, Hermione,” Harry said, “If you and Rose think this was enough, we won’t do anything else to the git.” He turned to Rose, “Well, sis, what do you think?” Rose looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “All right, if Hermione is satisfied, then I am, too. At any rate, I doubt he’ll be speaking to us for a while which is fine to me.” They all agreed, though, not to ignore Ron once they were back in school. Molly soon came back leading a subdued Ron, back in his orange pajamas. With a push from his mother, Ron walked up to Rose and Hermione like a condemned prisoner on Death Row. “Er, Rose,” Ron said, looking down at his feet, “I, I, I’m sorry for the way I acted at the Ball. I shouldn’t have ignored you, Rose. I promised Harry that I’d make the Ball enjoyable to you and I broke that promise. I’m sorry. You can prank me all you want just to make up for making your night miserable.” Rose eyed Ron for a few seconds then said, “All right, Ron. I forgive you. At least, you had the sense to let me dance with Neville. That made up a bit for your neglect. We’ve agreed the prank we just did is enough payback. Just don’t look to me to be a last minute date for you ever again.” Ron’s shoulders slumped as he nodded. He then turned a wary eye to Hermione, “Er, Hermione, I’m sorry for getting mad at you for going with Krum. I guess I was surprised that he was your mystery date.” “Why, Ronald?” Hermione asked, “Why would that surprise you? Do you think so little of me that you can’t believe that someone like Viktor wouldn’t ask me out?” Ron shook his head as he looked down at his feet again then said in a soft, low voice, “It just means that you’d be beyond me, that I would never be worthy of your attention.” Hermione’s eyebrows rose. Everyone else looked at Ron with widened eyes. Hermione’s voice was shaking as she asked, “W-w-what are you saying, Ron?” “I-I-I fancy you, Hermione,” Ron said, “I think I have for a couple of years now, but only realized it when I saw you looking so beautiful as you stood beside Krum. I couldn’t help but think that I’d lost my chance with you.” Hermione reached out and raised Ron’s chin with one of her index fingers so they could look at each other, “But you haven’t, Ron,” she said softly, “I admit that I was surprised when Viktor asked me out. But I thought someone else that I wanted to go with wouldn’t ask me, so I accepted his invitation. If only I had waited a couple more days, then I would have gone with that someone, even if his way of asking me was a bit condescending.” “Y-y-you mean that….?” Ron asked. “Yes, Ron,” Hermione said, looking him directly in the eyes, “I fancy you, too. I’ve thought of you as more than a friend ever since last year. I never thought you’d feel the same.” Ron grinned, “Then, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?” “Of course, Ron,” Hermione said, a smile forming on her face, “I’d love to.” They then stood staring at each other for a long moment before someone (I think it was Sirius) coughed, twice, making them aware that they had an audience. They both turned red and looked away from each other. Everyone around them was now grinning and smiling. Harry stepped up to Ron along with Sirius, James, Ti and the other Weasley males as Ginny and Rose whisked Hermione away. “Way to go, mate,” Harry said, slapping Ron’s back, “I never thought you could be so eloquent.” “Yeah, bro,” Charlie said, “I never thought you had it in you.” “Yes, our youngest brother is growing up,” Fred said, sniffing. “It brings a tear to the eyes,” George said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. ‘Oh, shut it, you,” Ron said, turning even more red. “Why didn’t you kiss her?” Bill asked, grinning. “Er, I was just thinking of that when Sirius made us know that we weren’t alone. That’s something I definitely want to do when we’re by ourselves,” Ron said, grinning. Arthur came up to the boys just then and clapped Ron on the shoulder, “Well, son, that wasn’t half bad. It’s actually a bit better than the first time I asked Molly out, in our fourth year.” Ron turned red again, “Gee, thanks, Dad. I really could have done without that image.” He sent a glare at James and Sirius who were snickering. “Hey, Dad,” Harry said, grinning wickedly, “That reminds me of the story of how you asked Mum out at the end of your sixth year.” James turned white and stammered, “N-n-now, Harry. I don’t think that story needs to get around.” “Oh, I don’t know, Prongs,” Sirius said, “It may have bearing on tonight’s events.” They collectively laughed at the expression on James’ face. Meanwhile, Ginny and Rose had Hermione to one side. “Wow!” Ginny said, “I never thought Ron would be able to tell you that he fancied you.” “You knew he fancied me?” Hermione asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?” “Well, I never really noticed before,” Ginny said, “I mean, this last year, I’ve been so wrapped up over Harry.” “As if you’ve never been wrapped up over him before,” Rose said, smirking. “Oh, shut it, dear sister-in-law,” Ginny said, grinning to lessen the remark’s sting, “Anyway, I guess I realized it during the Yule Ball with the way he reacted to you and Krum. I’ve never seen him pay attention to someone like that. What’s that muggle saying, ‘if looks could kill?’ Krum would have fallen dead on the dance floor with the way Ron was glaring at him.” “So he was jealous?” Rose asked, “That’s why he ignored me all evening?” “Yes, Rose,” Ginny said, “After all, the only reason a bloke would ignore a girl he’s on a date with is another girl.” Lily came over to them then, saying that the Potters needed to go home since Andrew and Daisy were already asleep. They all said goodbye to each other, glad that the night had ended on a good note which hopefully was a good omen for the coming year. A/N: I'm sorry if you were hoping for the Second Task already but this chapter was important to the story as it involved two of my romance subplots. How was the prank on Ron? I liked coming up with that. The R/H moment was something I wanted them to go through when I read GOF. Of course, their romance won't be as easy as Harry and Ginny's. Please review. |
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