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A Day to Remember | ||||
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Category: Muggle Picnic Challenge (2005-2) Characters:None Genres: Comedy, Fluff, Humor Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: G Reviews: 27 Summary: Hermione and some of the students with Muggle backgrounds have convinced Dumbledore to allow a Muggle style Saturday picnic by the lake, with BBQ and plenty of activities. When Harry and Ginny spend the day together, well, it's a day Harry will never forget... Hitcount: Story Total: 4086 |
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by the marauder “You told Dumbledore you wanted to have a what?!” asked Ron, his eyebrows furrowed together and his mouth still slightly open. “A picnic, Ron,” said Hermione matter-of-factly. His expression still hadn’t changed. “It’s a muggle thing…” she shrugged. He continued to stare at her like she had lobsters crawling out of her ears. “Picnic, picnic…” he mumbled under his breath, trying to recall his father telling him something about it. He continued to wear the confused expression so often seen on his face until his face suddenly lit up, “Oh wait! A pick-er-knick? Dad’s told us about those, remember Gin? They’re those days where muggles sit outside. They make that strange food which gets spoiled from the sun…um…futon… and they put blankets on the ground and then sit there until they get bitten by ants, and they try to play silly muggle games,” said Ron proudly. Hermione glared at him with a slightly pained expression. “First of all it’s a pic-nic not pick-er-knick, and you’re thinking of fondue not futon, Ronald,” said Hermione rolling her eyes. “Futon, fondue, what’s the difference,” mumbled Ron quietly, upset that he had been wrong when he thought he was doing so well. “Second of all, those are only unfortunate accidents. Picnics can be quite entertaining, and I think it would do this school a lot of good to have some good, old fashioned fun. Besides, this is an excellent opportunity to broaden students’ horizons a bit, get a taste of the Muggle world; it’s certainly important with what’s happening with the war. Honestly Ron, you’re in your sixth year and you can’t even say picnic correctly. That’s appalling. Don’t you agree Harry?” asked Hermione curtly. “Well…those are all things that can happen I suppose,” said Harry hoping this wouldn’t turn into another infamous row, and continued quickly before Hermione could retort, “But–but they can be quite fun too, err, well the Dursleys never took me along, but I’ve heard all…all… about… them,” he finished lamely. Hermione sighed, annoyed with the lack of support and Harry met Ginny’s eye grinning behind Hermione’s back. She smiled broadly, and then glancing at Hermione quickly straightened her face, but not without giving Harry a quick wink. “Alright Hermione, if pick-a-nicks are so great, what exactly did you have planned?” asked Ron heatedly, putting extra emphasis on the word which he still pronounced slightly wrong. “Well as a matter of fact, some of the other students with muggle backgrounds have offered to help me,” she said putting her hands on her hips. “Like who?” he retorted with a look that clearly said who would be daft enough to get involved in one of your little projects?! “Well… Justin Finch-Fletchley for one,” Ron raised an amused eyebrow, “and…and the Creevey brothers as well!” Ron snorted, “Yeah well good luck with that!” he mumbled, and Hermione’s eyes flashed menacingly. She opened her mouth but Ginny cut in. “Um…Hermione, that is a…really…great… idea,” Hermione’s expression softened slightly, “Um…I think Harry and I will go… and um… spread the word about it, right Harry?” He blinked at her for a moment, but came around as she stepped on his foot ‘tactfully’. “Oww! …err…yeah. Great Hermione, we’ll see you at lunch, okay?” He and Ginny turned and hurried off before either could pull them into the row. They erupted into laughter as they heard Hermione’s indignant voice carry across the grounds, upset with something else insensitive Ron had said. “Merlin, you’re nearly as thick as Ron!” said Ginny once they were out of earshot. “Hey now, no need for that!” said Harry, pretending to be offended. Ginny just laughed. “And next time, could you think of something a bit less painful then stomping on my foot? That hurt!” She looked up at the sky and pretended to think it over and then shrugged and beamed back at him, with a mischievous expression that had an uncanny resemblance to the twins. Harry laughed with her, and then as they began to walk again, glanced at her again out of the corner of his eye. He finally peeled his eyes away and looked at the ground with a slightly confused smile playing across his face. * ~ * “Okay, what are we forgetting?” asked a very tense and very stressed Hermione. It was Saturday morning, the day of the picnic, and she was about to crack. Harry and Ginny met eyes as she paced in front of them, and Harry shook his head and shrugged his shoulders weakly. “It’s okay Hermione, we have everything under control. You did a brilliant job planning it; let’s just sit down for a moment and relax, hmm?” asked Ginny in a soothing voice, gently leading Hermione over to one of the picnic benches. Hermione nodded her head absentmindedly and allowed herself to be seated, but her eyes continued to shift back and forth as she went over everything in her head. Ginny looked knowingly back at Harry and took a deep breath, shaking her head as if to say how are we going to get through this? Harry gave her a half smile, but before he could say anything, Hermione suddenly jumped up, “The food! Oh no! Who’s going to cook all the food! Dumbledore made us promise no magic!” Her eyes seemed ready to pop from her head and Harry was reminded of Luna briefly before he put his arm around Hermione reassuringly. “It’s all taken care of! Each house made a dish, and you taught Ron all about using the grill to Barbeque last week, remember?” Hermione was breathing heavily but nodded at Harry slowly, “Right… right,” she mumbled calming down, and then just as they had her seated again leaped up for the second time, “RON IS GOING TO BE IN CHARGE OF THE GRILL?! ARE YOU INSANE? HE’LL KILL HIMSELF, HE’LL KILL US ALL!” she exclaimed in terror, beginning to rant endlessly again. Ginny couldn’t hold back her laughter, and it only subsided when Hermione stared at her incredulously. “Hermione, Dumbledore’s strange, but he’s certainly not stupid. He put an anti-burn charm on the grill… Ron will be fine, and…it’s not like it’s going to blow up on him!” said Harry, smirking. They all froze as they heard a loud explosion. They slowly turned towards the lake to find a black-faced Ron standing up slowly. “S’OK! I’M FINE!” he called out, and then mumbled to himself, “Hmm…maybe it’s not the whole bottle of lighter fluid…” Hermione shot daggers at Harry and he smiled back weakly, “Well…now he knows, so… now he won’t blow it up…?” he trailed off hopelessly. Ginny shook her head and tilting her head at Hermione gave Harry a meaningful look before sighing, rolling her eyes and heading off to help her hopeless brother. * ~ * “ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING IN THE PIE EATING CONTEST PLEASE SIGN UP IN THE BOOTH NEAR THE PICNIC TABLES. THE JUDGES FOR ‘BEST MUGGLE OUTFIT PAGEANT’ WILL PICK THE FINALIST CONTESTANTS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE COMPETITION, SO MAKE SURE YOU ARE LOOKING YOUR BEST; AND THE THREE-LEGGED RACE WILL BEGIN IN FIVE MINUTES SO EVERYONE GRAB A PARTNER!” blared Justin’s voice. Harry turned to Ron, but Hermione cut him off, “No, no Harry! It’s a ‘his and her’ race: you have to be with a girl! Honestly... we’ve been over these rules so many times – WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” she screeched. Harry’s eyes widened as he backed away slowly, but she shoved him out of the way completely forgetting that they were talking. “RONALD WEASLEY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE… DON’T YOU DARE!!!” she shrieked, sprinting over to Ron who was holding a bottle of lighter fluid over the grill dramatically, a wily smile on his still slightly blackened face, while a group of worshiping first years watched with eager smiles. Harry turned back to Ginny who was laughing hopelessly and shot her a devious grin. “What?” she asked nervously as the giggles faded away, “What, you want me to…? No...” she said shaking her head ominously, but Harry smiled and nodded, walking toward her menacingly, “Nononononono…” she muttered, but to no avail because Harry was already dragging her over to the starting line. “Harry! I don’t know what to do!” “Don’t tell me Ginny Weasley is turning chicken! What, are you scared of being tied to me?” Ginny’s mouth gaped open and then shut forming a tight line. “I am not scared of anything,” she said giving Harry a superior look, “much less anything you could do to me, Mr. Potter,” she continued coldly, and pushed him out of her way as she marched over to the race. He grinned at her retreating form, and then jogged to catch up. * “I’m going to tie it now, okay?” She tusked, “Just do it. You’re not going to hurt me.” Harry smiled and rolled his eyes, as she continued to try to appear unafraid. “Okay, so when I say ‘in’ you move this leg, when I say ‘out’ you move that leg. It’s that easy! Got it?” asked Harry. “Mm-hmm…” said Ginny slowly, her fearless attitude subsiding quickly as she was actually faced with having to try something so ridiculous in front of all her peers. Harry nudged her with his arm and gave her a lopsided smile, “Just have fun, that’s all that matters.” She smiled back shyly, and he leaned in closer to whisper, “But just so you know… I plan on creaming all of them, got it?” Ginny grinned broadly, back to her normal self, “Got it,” she whispered back, raising her eyebrows for a moment before turning determinedly to the task before her. “THREE — TWO — ONE — GOOOO!” Cheers erupted around the contestants and Colin’s voice could be heard above the others, “A QUICK START FOR POTTER AND WEASLEY, CHO AND CORNER RIGHT THERE WITH THEM…” gasps were heard from the crowd, “OOO…THAT HAD TO HURT! WITH THOMAS AND PATIL OBVIOUSLY DOWN THE RACE IS GOING TO COME DOWN TO THESE TWO TEAMS…AND NOW THEY’RE CLOSE, IT’S POTTER AND WEASLEY, NOW CHO AND CORNER ARE IN THE LEAD… IT’S GOING TO COME DOWN THE VERY END…” “In, out. In, out. In, out. In, out…” muttered Harry under his breathe, and then with a giant leap he and Ginny leaped through the ribbon marking the end of the race. They landed on the ground rolling into some heaps of hay, and laughing hysterically. “AND POTTER AND WEASLEY TAKE THE WIN, WITH A SPECTACULAR ENDING USUALLY RESERVED FOR THOSE DRAMATIC QUIDDITCH MATCHES…” When they finally finished laughing uncontrollably, Ginny wiped the tears from her eyes, and continued to chuckle under her breath. They both sat up slowly and Harry moaned slightly. “Ooooh… we’re gonna feel that tomorrow,” he said grimacing. Ginny laughed and leaned in closer to whisper mischievously, “But it was worth it…” Harry looked at her surprised and then laughed some more. He gently reached over and pulled a piece of hay from her hair. They had stopped laughing and gazed into one another’s eyes seriously. Without even realizing what he was doing, Harry slowly leaned in — “AND RONALD WEASLEY WINS THE PIE EATING CONTEST… MERLIN–HE REALLY ATE ALL THAT? GOOD LORD RON!” Harry froze, realizing what he was about to do, and then eyes wide pulled back and stood up quickly, dusting himself off. He held out his hand and Ginny took it, standing up slowly, watching Harry with a curious look on her face. “Well, I suppose we ought to go congratulate your oaf of a brother, hmm?” asked Harry avoiding her eyes. She stared at him sadly for a minute before replying quietly, “Sure Harry.” She turned and headed off to the booth and Harry put his face in his hands, rubbing his eyes, then, shaking his head slightly followed Ginny. They passed the horse shoes tournament, in which Malfoy…unfortunately…seemed to be winning.” Harry rolled his eyes, and then spotted the contestants for the ‘BEST MUGGLE OUTFIT PAGEANT’ filing towards the stage. Some had gone for a standard, picnic appropriate outfit, some sported nothing more than bathing suits, and some seemed to have gone all out in hopes of winning the ‘Most Outrageous’ title. As a very tiny first year passed wearing polka-dot swimming trunks, cowboy boots, a Santa hat, a pair of plastic glasses with a fake nose and mustache, a bowtie, and rubber gloves, Harry stopped dead and grabbed her hand. “I’d sure like to see Malfoy in that outfit, wouldn’t you?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood. She looked at him surprised and then smiled back and nodded. “Absolutely!” she said, and then continued slyly, “You know, Quidditch playing is definitely doing him good: I think he could totally pull that one off.” She smirked at Harry’s stunned face and then turned and continued on to find Ron. Harry stared at the spot she had just been in, and then hurried after her, “Hey, what do you mean by that? You don’t think Malfoy is cute do you?!” he asked, his expression aghast at such a disgusting notion. Ginny didn’t answer, but merely laughed and began congratulating/teasing Ron. * ~ * Well, the day was over, and though they had their work cut out for them cleaning everything up, the picnic had definitely been a success. The easy atmosphere of a day in the sun had lulled the students into a content mood, and now most were heading off to their dormitories smiling dreamily at their day. Harry got down on his knees and reached as far as he could, but the bag was just out his reach. They were cleaning up the mess — without magic. That had been the deal, and Dumbledore seemed remarkably strict about this particular point. “Hey Gin, do you think you could hand me a stick or something?” asked Harry grumpily. He had dropped the bag of trash and the wind was now blowing it steadily farther and farther from the bank, out into the lake. “Sure,” said Ginny absentmindedly. She stood up and looked around for a stick, but seeing Harry hanging so perilously at the edge of the lake, got a better idea. With her foot smack in the middle of his bum she gave a forceful push, and before he could react, he found himself falling into the lake face first with a tremendous splash. “ARGH!” cried Harry coming up from the cold water. “GINNY?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Ginny couldn’t answer however, as she was supporting herself on her knees, tears pouring from her eyes, laughing hysterically at a very wet, very surprised Potter. “Oh I see. You think this is funny, huh?” Ginny just nodded her head, and laughed harder, “Well then, let’s see how funny you think it is when you’re all wet, shall we?” Ginny began to back away slowly, and then screamed as she dodged a splash from Harry. This of course made her laugh harder, “You’re going — ha ha — to have — ha ha ha — to do better — ha — than — ha ha ha — than that!” Harry glowered at her, pondering his next move, but it was taken care of as an enormous splash came from the water next to him. Ron had tackled Ginny, in hopes of pushing her in, but of course being prepared for such a thing with six older brothers, Ginny had clung to his shirt with all her might, pulling him in as well. Now they were all laughing and splashing each other, until Hermione came to the edge of the lake. “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING? WE HAVE TO CLEAN ALL OF THIS UP! IT’S GOING TO TAKE HOURS, AND YOU’RE PLAYING IN THE WATER!” she continued to rant, and they all looked at each other with eyebrows raised. Suddenly an unsuspecting Hermione was drenched by three powerful splashes. She shrieked and they prepared to be lectured again, but as she took an enormous breath she stopped and burst into laughter. Ron clumsily climbed out of the water and began to chase her, trying to pull her in too, and Harry and Ginny were left in the water alone. They continued to splash for a while until they grew tired, and were floating carelessly. “Ginny…” said Harry seriously. “Mm-hmm?” “Um…well, when you said that thing about Malfoy, you were just…kidding, right?” “Whatever do you mean, Harry?” she asked innocently. “Well… err…” he began nervously, “You said Quidditch had done him good…” “It has.” “Huh?” She looked at his shocked face and laughed, “Oh yes…next time there’s a potato sack race…I’d love to get into a sack with him!” “WHAT?!” Harry looked about ready to climb out of the water and over to the Slytherin dungeon just to pound Malfoy, but Ginny’s laughter brought him out of his reverie. “I was just kidding Harry!” she gasped between breaths. “Oh… I knew that…” he mumbled, blushing. “You should have seen your face!” “Shut up!” he said jokingly, splashing her again. She continued to laugh giddily and he swam over and tried to dunk her. Apparently six older brothers prepared her for this as well, because she seemed undunkable, while Harry, however, went down instantly. Ginny laughed in triumph, but Harry didn’t come back up. “Harry!” she called, still laughing. No answer. “Harry?” she said a bit more seriously. Silence. “Merlin! Harry? Harry where are–” Suddenly strong arms were holding her and pulling her under. She shrieked as her first thought was it was the Giant Squid, but when she got under she saw through the murky water that it was Harry, and slipping out of his grasp she came up gasping for air, followed shortly by him now laughing. “That’s not funny, Harry!” she said pouting, he continued to laugh, “I’m serious! Harry, stop laughing, this isn’t a joke!” Finally his contagious laughter got to her and she began to giggle as well. It had grown dark and they were still in the water alone, laughing like idiots, when Harry stopped, growing serious and Ginny realized how close they were. She reached over to pull a piece of sea weed out of his hair, and in an instant Harry seized the opportunity and leaned over kissing her. When they finally parted Ginny opened her eyes slowly and blinked at Harry, who was watching her mesmerized, as if not quite able to comprehend what had just happened. Slowly she began to smile too, and leaned in kissing him again. They continued kissing until Ginny slowly moved her hands to the top of his head and pushed down with a shove, submerging him. When he came up she was fleeing the scene and he followed, splashing at her wildly as she escaped. He received a mouthful of water as Hermione and Ron came soaring into the water, and hearing Ginny laughing wildly, taunting him, he knew this was a day he would never forget. Well there you have it! This is my first challenge fic, it was kind of fun once I got started! Since it is a competition, any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. (In other words, please review!!!) Bonus phrases used: I’d love to get into a sack with him/her! Quidditch playing is definitely doing him/her some good. She/he stared at him/her like he/she had lobsters crawling out his/her ears. Just do it. You’re not going to hurt me. Futon, fondue, what’s the difference? He/She really ate all of that?! I’d sure like to see (name) in that outfit, wouldn’t you? |
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