An: I really wanted to make changes to this chapter but I didn't get a chance. I hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Chapter 5 The Black Lion
Just as the first rays of sunshine were breaking over the horizon four young adults were rudely awaken in the Potter House. The housekeeper, Mrs. Figg, had been ordered by Mrs. Potter, to wake Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione up at the crack of dawn. The girls were the first ones downstairs and were already half way through breakfast by the time a sleepy Harry made it to the kitchen.
Ron was proving a challenge for Mrs. Figg to wake up. It was impossible to shout over his loud snoring, she even wondered how Harry had gotten any sleep with Ron snoring so loudly. She tried to shake him physically but Ron was a fully-grown man compared to her small old frame, not that she was weak; she just couldn't seem to shake him hard enough. She eventually resorted to the old adage of a bucket of cold water! That seemed to do the trick nicely. Unfortunately, for those eating breakfast, they were greeted with a very moody Ron.
They were fed a simple breakfast of porridge that seem to upset Ron even more as he was accustomed to a rather big breakfast. Ginny was also somewhat disheartened by the porridge but Harry and Hermione didn't seem too affected by it. In fact, Hermione started sprouting all the nutritional benefits of porridge. Ginny, fed up of Hermione, inquired as to where the twins were. Mrs. Figg informed them that the Fred and George were unable to accompany them today because they were meeting with an associate to discuss a new business venture.
The twins were in the entertainment business. Many of the Manors held grand parties and were often in need of some sort of entertainment for these parties. The twins made a business out of providing such entertainment. The trick to their success was that they always varied the entertainment. They never repeated the same thing at a party twice. This philosophy was what separated them from other businesses. Julie Black always joked that the twins would put her family out of business. Her father really didn't like the competition since the twins had put a huge dent in the sales at Zonko's.
Ron and Harry were disappointed that the twins wouldn't be accompanying them. They assumed they would have had Fred and George to cheer them up on the way to the burrow but that prospect of happiness was quickly dashed. Instead they were stuck with the company of Mrs. Figg at breakfast. They were grown men, or so their mother's kept reminding them but they still took orders from their parents. They were always told that no matter how old they got they would always be their sons. They could have just moved out but their parents insisted that they had to be married before they moved. That brought up a whole other issue, marriage!
Neither Ron nor Harry was really interested in it yet. They were still trying to find their paths in life. Harry was an Auror in training. He was following in his father's footsteps. His younger brother William just recently joined the program also. Charles also indicated that he wanted to follow his brothers. Harry would be graduating in a few weeks and then he would be a fully-fledged Auror. He looked forward to joining his father's ranks and going on missions. As eldest son, Harry had the responsibility of assisting his father with the family fortune. He was slowly gaining a keen sense of business but he wasn't as good as Sirius. Sirius was a whiz at that and made a living out of managing other people's fortunes.
Ron however, wasn't really sure what he could do with his life. He hadn't received the grades necessary to join the Auror program. In fact, Ron's grades were so poor, that even the local apothecary refused to hire him. The Weasley's weren't one of the traditionally rich families, even though they had a long history of living in Hogwarts. Their ancient ancestor had been the first worker hired by Lord Gryffindor but it just so happened that when the workers divided the land among themselves, their ancient ancestor got the raw end of the deal. They have been living with it ever since.
It was only recently with Mr. Weasley's ascension within the Hogwarts' Town Assembly ranks and the twins success, that the family has had money to spare. Ron ended up helping the twins with their business for the last few years but he didn't want to spend the rest of his life doing this. This was the twins' passion not his. He needed something that fit him. Something he was happy doing.
The girls were the first to leave the tables leaving Ron and Harry who were trying to take as long as possible to eat before Mrs. Figg shooed then out of the kitchen.
"Hurry along there boys! Mrs. Weasley wants half the garden done by the time she gets home!" Mrs. Figg called after them as she watched them leave the kitchen and head out to the stables.
_*_
Harry received the shock of his life when he arrived at the stables to find that all four horses were saddled and waiting patiently to leave. He walked up to Firebolt and calmly checked to see if she was sick.
"Nothing is wrong with your horse she is quite fine!" Hermione replied happily.
He stared astonished at her. Firebolt never let anyone but Harry touch her. He normally had to beg her to let anyone else saddle her. The fact that Hermione, a perfect stranger, was able to saddle her and get her out of the stables without Harry being present was a miracle. To make matters worse, he watched as Hermione held some oats in her hand and Firebolt ate it! She was even feeding his horse. Now Harry started to get angry. Who did she think she was to feed his horse?
"Why are you feeding my horse?" Harry questioned angrily.
"Because we have a fairly long ride ahead of us." Hermione replied calmly. If Harry's tone affected her she didn't show it.
"The Burrow is right over that hill" Ron said pointing to a hill about a mile away.
"Yes but we aren't going straight to the burrow." Ginny replied with a slight smirk
"We aren't" Both Harry and Ron replied clueless.
"Where're we going?" Harry asked.
"We weren't the only ones out last night. We just thought it fair that everyone be submitted to the same punishment!" Hermione stated with an evil smirk.
"Oh you mean Ferret face and Loony?" Ron responded
"Ronald Weasley, it is Luna not Loony and she happens to be a very nice person." Ginny responded.
"How do you plan on convincing them to join us in a punishment that our parents issued?" Harry asked curiously.
"I already sent them owls. They should be waiting for us when we get there." Hermione replied as she mounted Comet.
Ginny followed suit and soon they were both trotting off towards Slytherin Manor. They were obviously going to get Draco first and the boys reluctantly mounted their horses.
Soft giggling could be heard floating back to Harry and Ron who were still in the stables and as the girls disappeared into the tree line they raced full speed to the trees to keep up with them. The boys didn't want to lose them in the forest; even though they knew where they were headed and could meet them there, it was dangerous to leave two ladies alone in the forest. There were many dangers and if anything were to happen to the girls, it would be their heads!
As they broke through the first set of bushes into the forest the girls were nowhere in sight. Ron began to panic. The Auror training Harry had received, taught him never to panic in a situation. Harry instinctively looked down for the horse's tracks. Fortunately, due to the type of soil in the forest the tracks could be seen quite clearly.
"Ron relax, look at the tracks they left. They are probably just up ahead. Lets catch up with them quickly." Harry said as he moved ahead of Ron and continued to follow the tracks.
Harry had expected to catch up with them rather quickly but to his surprise they had been riding for five minutes and hadn't come across the girls yet. They were still heading in the direction of Slytherin Manor so he was sure he had found the right tracks. After a few more minutes, he came across a tree stump in the middle of the path. On the other side he could see the two horses standing with their reigns free. Ginny and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. Harry immediately got a sinking feeling somewhere in his gut. He told Ron to stay where he was while he checked out the scene. Harry dismounted, leapt over the fallen tree and headed in the direction of the horses.
Harry approached them slowly taking in the scene around him. There was plenty of undergrowth around to hide an ambush. Harry decided to listen to the voice at the back of his head that sounded very much like Mad Eye Moody. The voice kept shouting "Constant Vigilance" and Harry drew his wand as he reached closer to the horses. He was close to Nightstar, Ginny's horse, when he heard movement in the bushes behind him. Harry spun around and was greeted with the site of Chudley, Ron's horse. Ron was nowhere to be seen. Harry looked back to where Chudley had been and Firebolt was still there.
Harry looked around again. This time Comet and Nightstar had disappeared while he was looking at Chudley. Harry was trying to keep his calm. Ron as well as the two horses had just disappeared from right under his nose. To make matters worse Ron's horse snuck up on him and he had no idea! Harry wondered what kind of Auror he was going to be if something as big and loud as a horse could sneak up on him.
Harry heard movement behind him again and spun around. Firebolt was gone this time. Something nudged him from behind and he turned around quickly prepared to cast whatever spell popped into his mind. Hermione's horse was nibbling at his hair.
Harry got the suspicious feeling that someone was playing with him. If it really were an ambush why were they only moving the horses? Enemies would have attackedby now. Harry had an idea to bring out his mysterious opponent. He quickly cast his Patronus and sent it in the direction of Godric's Hollow. Harry felt the tip of a wand behind his neck. He swallowed. He turned around slowly was greeted with the smirking face of Draco Malfoy.
"Got ya! Drop your wand." Draco sneered. Harry did as Draco said and dropped his wand.
"Malfoy, what do you want?" Harry asked him as he assessed the situation.
"Revenge! You did this to me at training. I thought a little pay back in a real life situation was in order!" Malfoy gloated.
"What are you going to do now?" Harry asked.
Harry didn't think Malfoy was capable of doing anything too bad. He saw Draco step back and perform a very complicated wand movement before a spell hit him. Harry expected to be thrown backwards or injured in some way but he felt perfectly fine. Draco then concealed his wand and looked at Harry. Harry heard some movement behind him and spun around to see three giggling girls, Ginny, Hermione and Luna.
"I told you he would look cute with it!" Luna said through a fit of giggles.
"Hey mate you should have seen your face!" Ron said as he came out from behind some bushes with a huge smile on his face.
Harry looked at Ron incredulously. "You knew about this!"
"Well no. Not until we reached here. Then Ginny silenced me, dragged me off my horse and explained everything to me."
"And you couldn't help me?" Harry asked a bit peeved at Ron.
"Well no. It was actually a really good plan." Ron said
"That and he was being held at wand point by three girls!" Draco said gloatingly.
"Oh Draco behave. You got your revenge now lets head over to the burrow and start our work." Hermione declared.
"Wait! I want to know exactly what is going on here?" Harry asked angrily.
"Oh the Lion is angry! Hermione why don't you scratch him behind his ears." Luna suggested quite calmly.
Harry looked at her as if she had grown two heads. His gaze shifted to Hermione who actually appeared to be contemplating what Luna said. He then watched as Hermione reached up and started stroking his ears softly. For some strange reason, this really did relax Harry and he started to lean into her hand. At least that was before he realised that his ears were not as they were before. Harry frantically reached up to his ears and found that they were bigger and covered with fur.
"What did you do?" a horrified Harry asked Malfoy
"Relax Potter! It's actually quite an improvement!" Draco responded
"Harry, it really does look quite good on you!" Ginny said licking her lips.
Ginny walked over to Harry and raised her hand to his head. Harry caught her hand.
"What are you doing?" He asked angrily.
"What do you think? I was going to stroke your ears like Hermione did. You seemed to enjoy it!" Ginny replied with a huge grin as she shook her hand free of Harry and touched his ears.
"Ow Ginny! Could you be any rougher?" Harry exclaimed as he tried to cradle his injured ear. This was when he realised that Luna was stroking him also, but it wasn't his ears she was stroking. He turned around to see Luna holding the end of what looked like a panther's tail. Harry's eyes then followed the tail in Luna's hand back to his rear end.
"A TAIL! YOU GAVE ME A TAIL!" Harry shouted
"Quiet down Potter, do you really want to draw that much attention to yourself?" Draco asked with a satisfied look on his face.
Harry glared at Draco. This was his doing. Harry again instantly felt relaxed and realised that Hermione was stroking his ears.
"Wow your hands are amazing. I think I understand why Firebolt likes you!" Harry said almost purring as he leaned into her hands. Hermione could swear Harry was doing his version of a normal house cats' purr. It sounded kind of cute.
Hermione smiled. Harry was really enjoying this. Luna was right he did look cute with the ears and a tail. This was revenge for the Ferret incident. Of course Draco had wanted to turn Harry into all sorts of belittling animals but Hermione thought a lion would suit him. Luna thought the brown wouldn't match his physical appearance so she suggested a black lion to match Harry's jet black hair.
Hermione had owled Draco and Luna the night before letting her know what trouble she got herself into. She then proposed this plan to Draco, if in return, he would help them at the Burrow. She also pointed out the fact that he would be spending more time with Ginny if he came. Luna was easy to convince. Any mention of Ron and she was there.
Ginny again reached up to Harry's ears and he immediately recoiled from her touch. She was a bit too ruff with him. Luna even tried but she didn't seem to have the same effect that Hermione had. Hermione eventually got tired of petting the overgrown cat and withdrew her hand. She was immediately met with protests from Harry. Draco and Ron couldn't contain their laughter anymore and let out hearty laughs. Harry glared at them.
"Ron you are supposed to be my best mate! You should be threatening to hex Draco for what he has done" Harry said irritably.
"Harry this is why I always beat you at chess! If you payed attention you would notice that if I attempt to hex Draco I would have three angry females against me and 3 against 1 ain't great odds even if they are females. Hexing Draco would just send this King into cheque mate!"
"What do you mean by `even if we are females'!" Ginny demanded angrily. Ginny crossed her arms against her chest and was tapping her left foot angrily as she glared at Ron. Her face was now the same colour as her hair and she looked like a very formidable opponent.
Ron didn't have a chance to reply as they heard some rustling in the bushes. Lady Cho Chang, and Marietta Edgecomb appeared from the bushes. Lord Terry Boot was escorting the fair ladies. It was widely known that Lord Boot and Lady Edgecomb were to be married shortly.
"Ladies Chang and Edgecomb" Draco said politely as he bowed to them. Ron and Harry followed suit but Harry was very agitated. He reached for his ears again and realised they were back to normal. He then passed his hand behind him and was relieved to find no tail. He took a quick glance at Draco and noticed his disappointed look. Ron looked relieved, Luna and Ginny also looked disappointed that the tail and ears were gone. Hermione winked at Harry when he looked at her. He figured she must have been the one to remove the spell. This puzzled Harry a bit because he didn't see her move her wand or hear her recite any incantation.
Similarly, Lord Boot acknowledged Luna's and Ginny presence but he was unfamiliar with Hermione.
"I am sorry Miss but I don't know your name?" Terry inquired
"Hermione is fine." She replied.
"Harry why is Firebolt and those other horses in the air?" Cho asked Harry curiously moving the conversation away from Hermione. Cho had observed Hermione. She didn't know her name until Terry asked but since yesterday she had seen her twice already. She was at the Harry's party and now she was here with Harry. In fact, she was standing too close to Harry in her opinion. She briefly wondered if she was trying to steal her Harry away from her but she quickly discounted that idea with another glance at Hermione.
Hermione wore a simple dress, no make up and had her hair in a simple braid running down her back. The dress didn't flatter her figure at all and Hermione appeared to be a straight stick up and down with no femininely curves at all. She thought Hermione was no match for her class and looks.
Harry was confused by Cho's question and looked up. Sure enough above him were the three missing horses. Harry realised wht he didn't hear the horses sneak up on him. They were being levitated and as a result were quite easy to move around silently. Their hooves would have made no sound on the ground until they were dropped right behind him. They also appeared to have a silencing spell on them. The part of the forest they were in had a dense canopy therefore the horses created no shadow on the ground below Harry to alert him to their presence above him.
"We were just showing the fine ladies here a simple levitation spell." Draco answered for Harry.
"Oh." Cho replied. "Harry I was just on my way to see you. I was hoping we could go riding today?" Cho said with a seductive smile.
"Uh Cho" Harry said as he ran his hands through his hair. "Today won't really be possible."
"No?" Cho said as she started to pout. Cho knew all too well how to get a man to bend to her will and she wasn't going to accept a no from Harry.
Harry having never been able to withstand the pout of any female, caved immediately.
"Sure we can go riding" Harry said
"What!" Came the remark of the others.
"Uh.." Harry said nervously. He was definitely caught between a rock and hard spot. He just promised Cho to go riding with her when he was supposed to be cleaning the garden at the Burrow.
Hermione immediately realised Harry's predicament. He obviously was too smitten with Lady Chang to say no. "I have an idea. Why don't you ride with us to the Burrow? Harry has been ordered to clean the garden at Burrow and there isn't really any way for him to get out of it without being hexed to death. So if you fancy an alive Harry you could accompany us." Hermione suggested
Harry beamed. Her suggestion was brilliant. He could still ride with Cho and get to the Burrow to full fill his punishment. Harry readily agreed but Cho shot him a glare. She was hoping to ride with him alone but she wasn't bold enough to voice this to the group in front of her.
"Alright, I will come along. Marietta, Terry you can head back home. I will have Harry escort me home later." Cho said. If she couldn't be alone with him on the way to the Burrow then she will get him alone on the way back. Marietta and Terry agreed and left Cho with the group.
The horses were returned to the ground and they made their way out of the forest and to the Burrow. Cho trotted alongside Harry, every now and then making sure that her legs brushed up against Harry's. Cho made sure to trot rather slowly so as to put some distance between them and the others. Ron and Ginny were leading the way to the Burrow while Luna was trotting in between the two of them alternating her attention between Ginny and Ron. Draco and Hermione were just behind them. Every now and then Harry could see Hermione reach out and slap Draco on the arm. This was followed by a quick glance at him and Cho. He was really curious to know what they were saying about them. Cho seeing Harry's attention on Draco decided to broach that topic.
"I thought you didn't get along with Mr. Malfoy?"
"I don't." Harry replied gruffly thinking back to the ears and tail Draco gave him. He was thankful that Cho hadn't seen him with it. It certainly would have ruined his chances with her.
"I don't understand. If you don't get along with him why is he going with you to the Burrow?" Cho asked
Harry snorted. It was a long story and he rather talk about more pleasant things with her.
"Cho how about we go back to that rock tomorrow?" Harry said wriggling his eyebrows at her.
Cho put on quite and effort to blush at this question. "I don't know Harry." Cho said as she twirled a lock of her long black hair around her finger. "I guess I could. I don't have anything important to do tomorrow."
"I could meet you tomorrow at lunch time. We could make it a picnic this time." Harry said eagerly
Cho gave the impression that she was thinking it over before she agreed. She didn't want to appear too willing to Harry. Her firm belief was that playing hard to get always worked.
They were now at the top a small hill and the Burrow could be seen at the base of it. On another hill off in the distance, Gryffindor manor could be seen. Harry stopped for a few seconds to admire the Manor. He could clearly remember the first day he saw it from this very spot. He had been a little boy and it was his first trip to the Burrow. He was meeting Ron that day for a game of exploding snap and it was his father who pointed out the house to him in the distance. He felt drawn to the house. He wanted to go but his father explained to him that the house was locked and there was no way to get in. Harry never made an attempt to try to get into the house. He had too much respect for it. Even now after many stops to admire the Manor from this point it still took his breathe away. Harry realised he wasn't the only one watching the Manor.
"Beautiful isn't it" Harry declared.
"Absolutely breathtaking. I have never seen it from this view." Hermione responded. "She looks so different."
"She?" Harry questioned.
"I call her a she. I guess I feel more comfortable referring to her as a she than a it." Hermione responded.
"Fair enough but why not he?" Harry asked
"It's just a feeling really." Hermione responded.
Harry nodded. Harry suddenly realised that Cho was right next to him when he felt her leg brush against his. He had completely forgotten about her. Harry glanced over at her and could tell she was ready to move on. Harry tightened his hold on the reigns and started walking forward. When they reached the bottom of the hill Draco commented on Harry's pause to look at the manor.
"Just like Hermione. Always staring at that blasted Manor. Have you ever been to the house?" Draco asked testing a theory. Hermione looked at the house the exact same way Harry did. They both seemed entrance by it and he knew Hermione always spoke about being drawn to it.
"If you must know, no I have never been." Harry responded.
"Have you ever tried to go?" Draco asked continuing his line of questioning
"No. What's with the twenty questions?" Harry asked irritably.
"Harry, you look at Gryffindor Manor the same way Hermione does and she has never been either." Luna responded.
"Not that she hasn't tried!" Draco added to Luna's answer.
"You're not making sense Draco. How could she try to visit but not reach there. It's just a Manor?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Oh we tried but something always happens that keeps us away. Luna and I have both been but whenever we try to go with Hermione, we always end up somewhere else. I was just wondering if it was the same with you Potter." Draco said thoughtfully.
"Ok enough talk about my little obsession. If I let it go any further they will be exaggerating about why my bedroom window faces the manor." Hermione responded. "Now for the task at hand. This doesn't look too bad Ginny. The garden is a bit of a mess but I don't see very many gnomes."
"Oh just wait till you start. It is very deceptive." Ginny replied.
-*-
At around lunch time Mrs. Weasley arrived with Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Black and Mrs. Lupin. Mr. Lupin escorted them there. Their first thought before entering the house was to check up on the progress in the garden. There they were met with the site of Harry, Draco and Ron flying around on brooms while Ginny, Hermione, Luna and Cho relaxed on chairs in the garden.
"What is going on here?" Lilly Potter demanded immediately.
"Aunty we are cleaning the garden just like you asked" Hermione replied with a smug smile on your face.
"Would some care to explain to me how, flying around in the air and lounging in chairs, is cleaning the garden?" Lilly asked tossing her hands up in the air.
"Patience." Luna responded politely to her.
Lilly cocked her head to side and looked at Luna. She distinctly remembered telling Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione to clean the garden, four people. In front of her were seven people. How on earth did Luna Lovegod, Draco Malfoy and Cho Chang end up here? Well she could take a pretty good guess how Cho ended up there but not the other two. Harry never had much to do with those two. As far as she knew he despised Draco Malfoy. She never heard of Ron, Ginny or Hermione socializing with them either, so this was a mystery to her.
Just then Ron swooped down low and pulled a gnome out of his hole and tossed him on the ground. The Gnome ran across the field and Draco then dived cutting off the gnome's path. The gnome turned and was cut off again by Harry. Ron kept chasing after the gnome on the broom while Draco and Harry kept diving to cut off the gnome. Eventually, the gnome ended up right in front of where the girls were seated.
The boys had forced the gnome to run straight into the waiting girls. Ginny raised her wand and froze it. Hermione then levitated it out of view and Lilly walked forward to see where the gnome was being levitated too. There in front of her was a huge cage full of garden gnomes. As Hermione lowered the gnome into the cage Luna cast the counter charm to unfreeze it and the gnome began to run around again.
Lilly approached the girls followed by Tonks, Julie and Remus. Molly went inside to start preparing lunch.
"Good afternoon ladies" Lilly said greeting them properly.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Potter" All four replied politely.
"Wouldn't it have just been simpler to pull the gnome out and throw it over the fence?" Lilly questioned.
"Oh no Aunty. This method is designed so that they never come back!" Hermione stated.
Lilly cocked an eyebrow at her.
"According to "Warlock's Guide to dealing with Gnomes" Gnomes hate flying objects. If we chase them on brooms they will never come back to this yard. We stored them in a cage to release later." Hermione said. She then dropped her voice so that only Lilly could hear " I was thinking of releasing them in Mr. Chang's personal garden behind Ravenclaw Manor."
Lilly had to admit their plan was pretty good. She particularly liked the part about Mr. Chang's garden.
"So Cho how is your father today?" Lilly asked politely
"He is quite well." Cho replied
Lilly, Julie, Tonks and Molly disliked Cho. They thought she was too manipulative and wished that Harry would stay away from her. Lilly insisted that Harry needed to learn on his own and asking him to stay away from her would only make him want to see her more. This attitude forced them to tolerate a little more of Cho than they normally would have.
"Hello Mother." Harry said a little coldly to her as he dismounted his broom. Ron and Draco both followed and warmly greeted the women present.
"Young Mr. Malfoy, I never thought I would see you here!" Tonks said. Tonks and Draco were cousins. Tonks's mother, Andromeda, and Draco's mother, Narcissa were sisters. Andromeda had a disagreement with Narcissa and Bellatrix, their other sister, over the man she married. Cissy and Bella wanted Andra to marry a noble man affiliated with Slytherin Manor but Andra married a travelling salesman from out of town. She left with him and thus Tonks didn't grow up with her family. Tonks met Remus through her father and after much convincing on Tonk's part Remus agreed to marry her.
"Nymphadora" Draco greeted her, knowing full well that she disliked her full name. She instead preferred to use her last name Tonks, though he once heard her husband call her Nypmph.
"So how did Ms. Lovegood and Mr. Malfoy get invited to this little assignment of yours?" Lilly inquired curiously. In all honesty, she had been dying to ask this question. Their presence their was what intrigued her most of all.
Harry glanced briefly at Hermione. This was clearly a question for her to answer. Hermione appeared to be weighing her options. Draco on the other hand looked kind of anxious where as, Luna peered quietly at Hermione.
"They are my friends Aunty." Hermione said eventually deciding that going with the truth was the best alternative.
Lilly stared at Hermione. Her brain quickly tried to process the information.
"Lunch!" Mrs Weasley called from inside the burrow.
"Lunch, how nice. I guess we should be going Aunty." Hermione said not giving Lilly anytime to respond to Hermione's revelation.
The table in the burrow was already large enough to fit everyone. Hermione prevented Draco from saying anything insulting about the Burrow. She knew he was just waiting to throw some comment at Ron. Hermione gently reminded that Ginny lived there too and insulting Ron about his home would be the same as insulting Ginny.
Mrs. Weasley sat at the head of the table and Lilly and Julie joined her at that end of the table. Remus took up the other end of the table with Tonks. Cho sat in between Harry and Ron on one side of the table. Ron motioned for Ginny to sit next to him but Luna complied instead. Draco sat opposite Ron and in between Hermione and Ginny.
Draco was surprised at the amount of food that appeared on the table. He had expected the meal to be a bit substandard. Mrs. Weasley had prepared stewed Beef, Chicken Casserole, Pork Chops, Macaroni Salad, Treacle Tarts, Shepherd's pie, stir fried rice and Caesar Salad. Ron's hand was the first hand to the stew and his mother promptly yelled at him to let the guests go first! Draco sniggered at Ron across the table and took his time serving himself. Both Ginny and Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and told him to hurry up.
Lunch had been filled with interesting conversations. Lilly tried to question Hermione a bit more on her friendship with Draco and Luna but she wasn't very successful as Mrs. Weasley and Julie kept interrupting her conversation with Hermione. Draco was able to strike up a conversation with Ginny about living in the Burrow. She was telling him what it was like to grow up with six elder brothers. Cho had monopolised all of Harry's time and Remus and Tonks were involved in a conversation with Luna and Ron about Nargles.
After Lunch everyone settled in the drawing room for some tea and dessert. Various games started and before anyone realised it, it was time to leave. Lilly sent Remus to escort Hermione, Luna and Cho home. Cho tried to pull an act with Lilly but Lilly wasn't standing for it. She firmly put her foot down and sent Cho home with Remus. Harry escorted her and Julie home.
James wasn't home when Lilly arrived and she decided to wait for him in his office. She took a seat behind his desk and pulled his pensive out of the bottom desk draw. She retrieved the required memory from her mind and placed it in the pensive. She then used it to review the events of the day.
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