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SIYE Time:11:46 on 28th March 2024
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Music in the Rain
By hutchess

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Category: Summer-Fun Challenge (2004-3)
Characters:None
Genres: Comedy, Fluff, Humor
Warnings: None
Story is Complete
Rating: PG
Reviews: 12
Summary: Hermione invites Harry, Ron, and Ginny over for a carnival. Pony rides, apple bobbing, egotistical tightrope walkers, and rainstorms follow.
Hitcount: Story Total: 3884







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A/N:

Well, I've written fan fics before but I've never done a challenge so.....tada!!

Anyway, to all my readers: I haven't given up on my other story, Blimey. I have just been REALLY busy and now that school is over, I can write the ever-impossible-to-write chapter that follows. Ugh. It's the hardest chapter.

But anyway, heres the Summer Fun Fic, I hope you like it and that it's not too much like the other ones out there.




Dear Harry,
Guess what? There’s a circus coming to my town this weekend, and my mum said I could invite three of my friends. Can you come? I’ve already asked Ron and Ginny and they both can. Mrs. Weasley reckons it would be nice for you to get out of the house. She’s probably right, huh?
Anyway, send an owl as soon as you know. See you soon, hopefully, and don’t let the Dursley’s get you down!

Love always,
Hermione



Harry finished reading over the letter for the fifteenth time at least. His hair was a mess, as usual, and his clothes were rumpled and three sizes too big, but he was wearing a gigantic smile and looked like an overexcited little puppy about to go for a walk. Ron and Ginny would be here any minute to pick him up. They were planning to floo to Mrs. Figg’s house with their brooms, get Harry, floo his trunk over to the Burrow, and fly to Hermione’s. Harry and Hermione would be returning with Ron and Ginny to stay the rest of the weekend. Hedwig had already flown to the Burrow and was going to get a few days of rest and relaxation. It was going to be a great summer.



Harry had only had to survive two weeks of the Dursley’s and he was going to be free in less than five minutes!



When he finally spotted the trademark red hair through the bars on his bedroom window, Harry jumped up and bounded down the stairs skipping three at a time, only to remember his trunk and run back up again. He practically threw the trunk down the stairs before sliding charmingly down the banister himself and running to the front entrance, almost running into the door.



Harry yanked at the doorknob and quickly stepped forward, only to make contact rather painfully with Ron’s fist.



‘OW!’



‘Oh my god, Harry, are you ok?’ said a concerned Ron. ‘I was just about to knock and suddenly there was your face instead of the door! I didn’t see you and–I’m so sorry! Are you ok?’



A giggling sound came from above, and Harry looked up to see Ginny trying to hold in a laugh.



‘It’s not funny, Ginny,’ said Harry grumpily, massaging his reddened cheek as pulled himself up from the doorstep. ‘Stop laughing!’



‘But you're laughing...’ she pointed out sassily, placing her hands on her hips in a very Molly-ish way.



Harry stuck out his tongue.



‘Oh, very mature, Harry,’ Ginny rolled her eyes. Then she extended her hand. ‘Shall we try this over again?’



Harry nodded, closed the door, and instantly opened it again.



‘Hello!’ he said breathlessly as if the last three minutes of time had never happened. Instead of shaking her hand, he took it in his and in a very gentlemanly way kissed it. Ginny blushed ever so slightly, but Harry didn’t see because he had already turned and gone inside the house to get his trunk. He laughed as he heard Ron shouting after him.



‘Hey! Don’t I get a hello? Or just the kiss on the hand?’



‘Mind you, Ron, you did punch him.‘



‘Shut it Ginny, it was an accident and you know it.’



‘Yeah. Suuuuure it was.’



‘Oh, cut it out you two.’ Harry said absentmindedly as he reappeared. He fumbled in his pocket for something and a moment later was locking the front door. Turning to them with a breath of fresh air, he looked to Ron. ‘Ronald Weasley, you have the honor of carrying my trunk.’



‘Why should I carry it?’



‘Because you punched me.’



‘I thought we just agreed that that was an accident?’



‘No, little man, YOU agreed. My face says otherwise.’



Ron scowled, but his guilt overpowered him and,
grumbling, he started to drag the trunk in the general direction of Mrs. Figg’s house. Falling in step behind him, Harry walked alongside Ginny with Hedwig’s cage in hand.



Ginny smiled.


‘Ron’s so gullible. But enough about that,’ she said as she turned to face Harry. ‘I’ll bet you’re happy to get away from this place.’



Happy is an understatement, Ginny How has your summer been so far?’ he asked.



‘Oh, kind of boring. This circus is a nice change of events, don’t you think?’



‘Yeah, not to mention that I only had to spend two weeks with the Dursley’s. I can’t believe that I’ve only got one summer left with them...it’s heaven!’
Harry put on an exaggerated happy-face and did a little dance, causing Ginny break into laughter once again.



‘It’s nice to see you in such a good mood.’



*



Barely an hour later, Harry, Ron, and Ginny were on Hermione’s doorstep. Each carried a bag with their toiletries and two changes of clothes for the weekend.



The door opened and revealed a beaming Hermione.



‘Ginny! Harry! Nice to see you!’ She shrieked.



Ron pouted. ‘What am I, chopped dragon liver?’ he asked, as Harry and Ginny stepped inside.



Hermione looked at Ron and tilted her head happily.



‘I’m really happy to see you too, Ron,’ she added in a lower voice that sounded much different than the one she had used on Harry and Ginny. She smiled deviously as Ron reddened and gave him a hug.



‘Hey, lovebirds!’ Ginny teased from inside.



Hermione let the glass door swing closed and concentrated hard on the ceiling, trying hard not to blush. Ron, however, tore after a shrieking Ginny and tackled her to the ground in the living room. Mercilessly, Ron started to tickle Ginny who writhed on the floor giggling uncontrollably.



‘Who’re the lovebirds now?’ said Harry smugly from the other side of the room. Ron and Ginny both froze and looked at Harry.



‘EW! We’re brother and sister, you sicko! You’re
going to get it next!’ Ginny warned, before running through the kitchen trying to catch Harry, whose many years of Quiddtich had made him fast, superbly agile, and impossible to keep up with.



Hermione, who had been standing quietly by the foot of the stairs, cleared her throat. Just as he was coming out of the kitchen, Harry spotted the reason; Mr. and Mrs. Granger stood three stairs up, surveying the three teenagers that had just arrived in their house. Mr. Granger raised his eyebrow at
Hermione, who shrugged. Thinking that tearing around the house after having been there for barely three minutes and not even having met Hermoine’s parents was probably not the most polite thing to do, Harry did the only thing that made sense to him; he stopped. Ginny however, hadn’t seen the Grangers and wasn’t watching when she slammed full-speed into Harry and knocked them both to the ground.



‘Ow! Ginny, wha–‘



‘Harry! Where–‘



‘OOF! Geroff me Ginny–‘



‘Well I can’t you’re sitting on my le–‘



‘HARRY! GINNY!’ Hermione said loudly. The two teenagers stopped trying to untangle themselves and looked up. ‘You two got a minute? I’d like you to meet my parents...’ she guestured towards the stairs, trying to suppress a smirk.



Ron snickered and mumbled something to the effect of ‘and you were calling us lovebirds...’



‘Dad,’ said Hermione, attempting to retain her composure, ‘this is Ginny Weasley. She’s Ron’s brother.’



Ginny yanked her leg out from underneath Harry and ungracefully pulled herself up, leaving Harry to fall back onto the floor with a loud FLUMP! She instinctively brushed a strand of hair out of her face and turned to face Hermione’s parents, a smile crossing her face so fast it was almost alarming. She shook Mr. Granger’s hand.



‘Hi! Nice to meet you. I was just–OOF!’



Harry had pulled her to the ground as he stood up.



Ginny scowled up at him from the carpet, but Harry pretended not to notice.



‘I’m Harry. Harry Potter. Nice to meet you,’ he said to Hermione’s parents , grinning. ‘So, what time is the circus?’



*



‘Honestly, you three! Tearing around my house like a bunch of hooligans–what my parents must think!’ Hermione said scoldingly. Had she not been smiling, Harry would have thought she was serious.



Ron looked at Hermione fondly.



‘Hermione, you’ve just invited three sixteen-year-olds to spend the–‘



‘I’m only fifteen, Ron.’ Ginny said quietly.



‘Fine, two sixteen-year-olds and one fifteen-year old.’



Harry cut in. ‘The fact is, you’ve got three teenagers spending the second weekend in the summer at your house...what can you expect? Especially if it’s Ginny we’re talking about.’



‘Hey, watch it!’ Ginny giggled and gently pushed Harry.



The four of them made conversation all along the walk to the circus from Hermione’s house. It was about a half a mile’s walk down an old dusty path, which looked like it had come straight out of a fairy tale, with green grass and flowers on either side, a small wood to their right, and the white tops of some mountains could be seen in the far distance.



‘Oh no, look over there!’ said Hermione, pointing at something in the sky that Harry couldn’t seem to see.



Harry squinted. ‘What are we looking at?’



‘The rain clouds, silly! Over there,’ she pointed Harry in the right direction. ‘I just hope we don’t get rained out...’



‘Never mind that now, we’re here! Let’s just make the most of it!’ said Ron excitedly. Sure enough, as they rounded the bend, Harry spotted a giant red and yellow polka-dotted tent.



They approached a tired-looking muggle of about thirty years wearing a neon green suit with pink puffs on the sleeves. The man was asking people for tickets. Was Harry supposed to have muggle money with him? He opened his mouth to ask, but Ron beat him to it.



‘Um, Hermione? Are we supposed to have money? Because I don’t have any muggle money with me. In fact, I don’t have any muggle money at all...’ Ron said worriedly.



‘Of course not, Ron,’ Hermione said comfortingly. She knew that Ron had always felt uncomfortable about people spending money for him. ‘My parents are paying for it. Admission isn’t that expensive anyway, it’s only about two-fifty.’



‘How much is that is wizard money, Hermione?’ asked Ginny curiously.



‘Umm...about eight and a half sickles,’ said Hermione absentmindedly, sifting through the coins in her purse. It always amazed Harry how bright Hermione was without her even realizing it. After having given the man some money for tickets, Hermione pressed some plastic tokens into each of their hands. ‘They’re for food and games and stuff,’ she said in response to their baffled looks. ‘I guess they have booths you can visit before the circus actually starts.’



The circus was only a local one; it was nothing compared to the three-ring circus’s that Harry had read about, but as he had never been anywhere with the Dursleys, he was ecstatic to be there.



Ginny, it seemed, was also exceptionally happy.
Harry had heard her talk about wanting to go to a muggle event sometime; this was right up her alley.



‘The acts start in fifteen minutes, so don’t me late, all right?’ Hermione said.



‘Not for a thousand Galleons...I mean pounds!’



Ginny said happily. And before he knew what was happening, Ginny had grabbed a hold of Harry’s arm and was pulling him toward one of the booths.



‘Ooh, this looks fun, what do you have to do?’ She said to herself as she gave an attendant one of her tokens. Harry looked up at the sign and chuckled.



This was going to be interesting.



Apple Bobbing



*



After Ginny and Harry had bobbed for apples, won a three-legged race, and attempted without success to do ring-toss, Harry had made up his mind on something. He liked circuses.



And he liked Ginny.



He and Ginny were walking along side by side, each with a small vanilla ice-cream cone in hand.



Ginny held under her arm a small stuffed elephant that they’d gotten as a prize for winning the three-legged race. The elephant was wearing sunglasses, a side-ways hat, a green-striped shirt, and a trendy pair of denim shorts that went down to its knees.



‘Can you see McGonnagal in that outfit, Ginny?’ Harry said.



Ginny snickered. ‘No, bit Ron might want–



ACHOO!’



‘God bless.’ Harry responded automatically.



‘Thank y–what’s so funny?’



Harry couldn’t help but laugh. When she had sneezed, Ginny had accidentally gotten ice-cream on her cheek. She looked rather awkward with a little white spot smack in the middle of her face, but Harry thought it absolutely cute.



‘You er...got ice cream on your face.’



‘Oh! Where? Here?’



‘No. A little to the left.’



‘Here?’



‘Down a bit.



‘Oh this is silly, I should be able to feel the stuff–its frozen!’



Harry looked at Ginny fondly. ‘I’ll get it off for you.’



Turning her head up to his, he gently took a napkin and dabbed the ice-cream away, his gaze never leaving Ginny’s eyes. They stood, locked in place for a moment before–



‘We should probably be heading on towards the tent now,’ said Ginny nervously, starting towards the entrance.



Harry started to follow her but then something caught his eye.



‘Wait, Ginny!’ Harry said, pulling her back. ‘Look!’



Over on the far side of the fenced in area were three horses tied up to a pole. A sign was nailed over them that read ‘Horse Rides, Three Tokens a Person’.



Ginny’s eyes lit up to match Harry’s already enthusiastic expression. Then her face fell.



‘But Harry, I’ve only got two tokens...’ she said sadly, turning out her pockets. Then, spying the three tokens in Harry’s hand, she added ‘You go on without me...’




‘NONSENSE!’ A loud, shrill voice came abruptly from behind them, causing Harry to jump slightly. A tall, chubby female clown dressed in bright orange and lilac was looking down on them, smiling broadly. ‘Couples can share a horse and have two riders for the price of one! Come on now, young man, surely you want to treat your girlfriend to a horse ride?’



Ginny looked deviously at Harry. Their only choice was a discount, because they didn’t have enough tokens to buy two tickets and still have some left over for drinks and food. They weren’t exactly a couple, but they could pretend to be. It would be the Slytherin thing to do...



And barely a minute later, Harry was seated behind Ginny on a dapple-grey horse called Merlin. Ginny, having grown up in the countryside, had ridden horses many times before. For Harry, however, this was a completely new experience. As Merlin plodded along at a gentle trot, Ginny swayed her hips easily back and forth in sync with the saddle, with Harry bouncing along ungracefully behind her.



‘You can hold on to me, if you’d like,’ she said, laughing, as if riding a horse at a trot was the simplest thing to do in the world. Harry thought about what Ron would think if he came along and saw Harry holding onto Ginny, and kept his eyes pinned firmly to his side.



‘N–no–that’s–oh---oh–kay!’ he stuttered, gripping the horse’s flank with all his strength.



‘You’ve got to loosen up, Harry! Go with the flow. Moooooooove with Merlin...’ Ginny cooed teasingly.



Suddenly, Merlin stumbled on a tree root and there was an almighty lurch. Harry flew up six inches over the saddle and came crashing down again on a rather sensitive area of his body.



‘OW!’ he cried, as he tried to hoist himself back into the saddle. ‘That’s it!’



He placed his hands hands firmly around Ginny’s waist, holding onto her for dear life. As Harry eventually fell back into Merlin’s rhythm, he thought that this wasn’t so bad. He was still holding onto Ginny, but a little tighter than what might be necessary to keep him on Merlin’s back. Ron could bugger off...



‘Hopa!’ came Ginny’s calm voice as Merlin stumbled again.



Harry definitely preferred broomsticks to horses, he thought as he rose six inches into the air again and waited closed-eyed for the crash...



*



‘There you two are! We’ve been looking for you, the circus starts in five minutes!’



Harry spun around to see Hermione rushing towards them, out of breath. He hand Ginny had been waiting at the entrance, wondering where
Hermione and Ron were.



‘Don’t worry Hermione, we’re here. And where’s Ron?’



But Hermione didn’t need to answer that question, because at that moment, Ron came stumbling up to them, crouching over a little. He looked green in the face and had an expression of absolute disgust. Ginny mouthed ‘What’s with him?’, but Harry had no more information than she did and he shrugged. Hermoine rolled her eyes.



‘Ron,’ she said matter-of-factly, ‘has discovered cotton candy.’



‘Oh, Ron!’ said Ginny, ‘Honestly! How could you–‘



‘It doesn’t matter, Ginny, we’ve got to hurry!’



Hermione grasped Ginny, Harry, and Ron and started to pull them towards the entrance. A man on stilts saluted them and told them to enjoy the show. Harry went on tiptoes and saluted stupidly back to the man. Ginny giggled and Harry’s heart leapt.



They were one of the last ones into the tent, so they ended up sitting in the very back. Ron sat at the far end, and not to anyone’s surprise, Hermione sat next to him. Then Ginny filed in and Harry plopped himself down in the seat adjacent to her.



Down below, there was one oval ring with sand covering the ground. Brightly colored flags lined the edges of the ring and Harry could just make out a wire far above them. Suddenly, the lights flickered once and then dimmed. Harry looked over to at Ginny and she smiled at him. A strange sensation of calm overcame Harry.



*



Circuses are definitely fun, though Harry. They’d already seen some amazing trapeze artists, comedians that might rival Fred and George, and a lion tamer.



‘Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare yourselves for the amazing Wire-Walking Wizard! That’s right, it’s the master of tight-rope, Aladino Rivaletti!’



A young man of about twenty years stood on the platform high above the crowd. He was good-looking with dark eyes and a rich brown-colored hair. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione nudge Ginny and whisper something into her ear. Whatever Hermione had said caused both of the girls to blush and retreat into a fit of quiet giggles. Ron scowled. So did Harry.



Aladino raised his arms and hushed the crowd. He stepped out onto the rope and dramatically spread his arms. Step by step, he inched his way into the middle of the rope. Then he did a wonky sort of kick and landed backwards, bringing a round of applause forth from the audience. He then blew a kiss into the crowd, being met with sighs from various teenage girls sprinkled throug out the audience.



‘Show-off,’ Harry heard Ron mutter, right before being slapped in the arm by Hermione. Harry put his finger to his lips and shushed him, but secretly, he agreed.



A gasp from the crowd and from Ginny drew
Harry’s sensed back to the ring in a flash. There, hanging from the wire, was Aladino. Now, clearly Harry wasn’t a tightrope walker himself, but it was definitely not part of the routine to hand 50 feet above the ground with a fearful expression on one’s face.



‘What happened?’ Harry asked Ginny, horrified.



‘Well, it was quite stupid of him, really. He heard all those girls in the crowd and decided to...er...put on the charm. Well, he lost his balance, and there he—OH!’



Aladino lost grip of the wire with his left hand and was now dangling from the wire with one arm. His hands were bound to be sweaty...Harry could see each individual digit on his right hand quivering...couldn’t be long now before–



‘AAH!’



Aladino fell through the air, and Harry thought for sure that he was a goner. Ginny had a horrified expression plastered to her face. She was watching intently as if the world moved in slow motion. Without thinking, she grabbed Harry’s hand and Harry held tight.



Wait...who were...?



‘Spotters! Of course!’ said Ginny almost instantly.



Harry, hearing the relief in her voice, opened his eyes which he didn’t remember closing. Aladino sat in the ring, unharmed, surrounded by about six men dressed in pale green. One of the men carried a sheet with him.



‘A trampoline...’



Ginny let out a breath that she didn’t know she was holding, and looked over at Harry.



‘Wow, that was quite a...’ she trailed off before her cheeks turned a vivid red color, clearly recognizable even in the dark of the tent. Following the direction of her gaze, Harry fought the urge to laugh. Ginny, having completely forgotten that she had grabbed Harry, still had her hand clasped tightly within his.



Ginny closed her eyes momentarily and politely made to tug her hand away, but Harry stopped her. He wasn’t completely dense–from his experience, people normally blush for a reason.
Instead of letting go, Harry lightly squeezed Ginny’s hand in his. His eyes flickering over to Ron for a moment, he slowly raised both their hands up to his face and, while looking into her eyes, kissed the back of Ginny’s hand. He hoped desperately that Ron couldn’t see him through the darkness. Harry looked over at Ginny, who was eying him questioningly. A silly grin appeared on his face as he looked at their hands together, now between them. When he looked back up, Ginny was once again intently surveying the show, but this time she was struggling to contain a smile. Slowly and warmly, their hands became one and from then on, Harry wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on in the ring.



*



‘Oh, come on Hermione, you were practically droolingover that tightrope walker guy! Harry, back me up here! Don’t look so dumbfounded–DON’T YOU ROLL YOUR EYES AT ME HERMIONE GRANGER, YOU KNOW I’M RIGHT!’



‘No, you’re not!’



‘Are too!’



‘Are not!’



Harry groaned. Knowing Ron and Hermione, this could go on for hours. Slowing down a tad, Harry fell in step behind them, walking next to Ginny who had been rather quiet the whole walk home.



‘What’s on your mind?’ he asked kindly, though he knew perfectly well what she was probably thinking about.



‘Oh, nothing...’ she said absentmindedly. ‘What’re Ron and Hermione bickering about, then?’



‘Whether or not Hermione was drooling over Aladino or not.’



‘Ah.’



As a moment of silece overtook them, Harry and Ginny could hear Ron and Hermione’s incredulous voices, ever-increasing in volume.



‘So, what? You only like perfect men? As soon as they goof up they get an arse-kick out of the door?’



‘Ron, watch your mouth! And would you stop attacking me?’



‘Why? I’m just pointing out that you have an uncanny tendency to lead people on! I mean, I suppose you’re pretty enough–ouch!– but how many people do you like? I mean, how many do you really fancy?’



‘Just one.’



‘Oh, come on.’



‘I’m serious Ron.’



‘No, you’re joking. It must be more.’



‘Nope. You’re the only on I really fa...oops...’



Harry wished he had a camera with him so that he could forever taunt Ron with the look on his face at that moment. In fact, a picture of Hermione wouldn’t be bad either...her face had gone about the color of Ginny’s hair. Both had stopped in the middle of the path and were staring at each other, not knowing what to expect.




‘Finally! I was waiting for one of them to slip,’ muttered Ginny into Harry’s ear.



BOOM!



Before Harry could really register what had just happened between Ron and Hermione, he found himself being drenched. Without any previous warning, thunderclouds had rolled in and it was pouring rain.



‘Oh, no!’ Harry heard Hermione scream. Ron took off his cloak and put it around her, before taking her by the arm and running full speed towards home, ignoring her protests (‘But you’ll get so wet!’)
Harry started to walk again, but stopped and turned to look at Ginny. She had stopped about ten feet back and stood in the middle of the road with her arms stretched out, smiling into the sky. The rain seemed to have no effect on her–or it had every effect, Harry wasn’t sure. She looked so pure and radiant–like a beautiful, red-haired angel. And that’s when Harry knew. He loved Ginny.



Just then, soft music crept in through the rain.
From where it came, neither was sure. As the beat filled the air and Ginny opened her eyes again and let her gaze rest on Harry, she smiled and she knew.



Harry walked up to her.



‘Fair maiden, may I have this dance?’ he asked, smiling.



Ginny curtseyed. ‘Of course, worthy gentleman.’



Harry took her up in his arms, taking one of her small hands in his. As they slowly revolved around the spot in the rain, a new love was born. A love as pure and white as a new Christmas snow.



Harry’s eyes locked with Ginny’s as he pulled her closer. Her head rested on his shoulder and she closed her eyes. This is where she wanted to be; she’d wanted this for so long. Harry’s gentle hands found their way to Ginny’s waist and Ginny
wrapped her arms around his neck.



Neither of them noticed when the music faded.
They just stayed that way, in each other’s arms, for what seemed like a blissful eternity.



‘Harry?’



‘Mmmmmm...’



‘The music’s stopped.’



‘Really?’



‘Yes.’



‘Tha t’s nice.’



Without warning, Harry gathered up Ginny into his strong arms. She giggled.



‘Aah! What on earth–‘



Harry put his finger on her lips, looking into her eyes but reaching into her soul. She smiled.



‘What are you doing?’ she asked playfully, although she knew what was about to happen by the way that Harry was bending over her. Harry moved closer.



‘I’m kissing you.’



And he was.

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