Harry Potter and the Serpent's Eye by Marauder9744
Chapter Notes: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! Also, a big thanks to my beta, LucyLupin - I couldn't do it without you. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far... please, please review if you can. Thanks again!
Chapter 5 - Bill and Fleur's wedding (if you couldn't gather that from the chapter title lol), a very famous International Quidditch player also returns.
Harry was awoken the next morning by Ron and Hermione whispering in the corner of his room.
“We’ll have to ask him when he wakes up,” whispered Hermione.
“He’ll tell us when he’s ready, trust me, Hermione,” whispered Ron angrily, reaching for a tray of food Hermione was holding, grabbing a piece of bacon, and stuffing it in his mouth.
“What will I tell you when I’m ready, and is that my bacon you’re eating?” said Harry, sitting up in his bed.
Hermione hit Ron in the stomach, causing him to drop the bacon out of his mouth, and then carried the tray of food over to Harry.
“Sorry, mate,” said Ron, rubbing his stomach, “you slept past breakfast and Mum wanted us to bring that up for you.”
“Yes, but not eat half of it on the way up,” replied Hermione angrily, throwing Ron an evil look.
“Would you two give it a rest?” said Harry, taking a bite of his muffin.
Both of his friends muttered something that sounded like ‘sorry’ and each sat down, Ron on his bed and Hermione on the edge of Harry’s.
“How late did I sleep?” asked Harry, taking a sip of chilled pumpkin juice.
“It’s almost noon, mate,” said Ron, glancing nervously over at Hermione. She gave him a small nod in return.
“Umm, Harry…” began Hermione but Harry cut her off. He did not want to share what he heard last night just yet.
“Where is everyone else?”
Hermione looked slightly defeated but answered his question nonetheless.
“Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur and Charlie are downstairs, getting everything ready for the party. Tonks is at work. Lupin, Hagrid, Mr. Weasley and the twins have been gone since before I got up, I don’t know where they went, and McGonagall left last night right after you went inside. Where did you and…”
“You left out Ginny,” Harry said, deliberately cutting her off again.
“Oh, well…” she turned a shade of pink and gave Ron another look. “She and Davey have gone off somewhere,” she said hastily.
“He’s an ugly, old git, you know that,” said Ron, grabbing another piece of Harry’s bacon.
“Ron…” Hermione began threateningly, “well, yes, I suppose you’re right.”
She smiled at him and grabbed the end of his bacon, breaking it in half, and ate it. Ron didn’t say anything, but a strangely happy looked was plastered across his face.
“Harry,” Hermione began again cautiously. “What did you talk about last night?”
Harry didn’t think that he could put it off any longer so he told his two friends about the Serpent’s Eye and what he talked about with Mr. Weasley, Lupin and Moody the previous night.
“Bloody hell,” exclaimed Ron, once Harry had finished telling his tale. “I bet Snape’s helping him brew the potion.”
Harry nodded in agreement and looked towards Hermione to get her point of view. She had a glazed look across her face. She seemed to notice that she was under Harry’s gaze and quickly snapped out of her reverie.
“Well,” she said, “it’s just one more thing that we’ll have to do.”
“How, Hermione?” Harry asked. “Something as important as the Serpent’s Eye will be under heavy guard by Death Eaters. I’d be willing to bet that Voldemort’s not going to let it out of his sight.”
“Well, like you said, we don’t necessarily have to get hold of the stone. It would make it much easier, but as long as we, somehow, prevent someone from administering the Draught of Life to Voldemort for seven minutes after he has died then it wouldn’t matter if he had the potion or not,” Hermione replied, a pensive look on her face. “I do think you should tell someone what we’re going to do, Harry. I mean, I know Mr. Weasley or Lupin would both be willing to help us.”
“I know, Hermione, but I can’t endanger any one else,” replied Harry. “I’m still not comfortable with you two coming with me.”
“Oh, now don’t start that again, mate,” said Ron quickly. “We’re with you until the end, right, Hermione?”
“Until the end,” she agreed and the three of them carried Harry’s tray down the stairs together, smiling.
* * *
Harry, Ron and Hermione spent the afternoon with Bill, Fleur, Charlie and Mrs. Weasley, decorating and putting the finishing touches on the garden for the wedding that evening.
“’Ow do you ‘zink my ‘air will look like ‘zis?” asked Fleur to Hermione, moving her hair around with her hands.
“Er… maybe Ginny would be more suited to help you with that, Fleur,” Hermione replied while Harry and Ron shared a grin.
“Where is she, anyway?” said Ron, looking towards the front of the house. “How long has she been gone?”
“A while now, I think,” said Mrs. Weasley, glancing sideways at Harry.
“Well, I don’t like that Davey,” said Ron. “He seems a bit “ I don’t know “ off.”
Harry didn’t give any sign of it, but he agreed with Ron and was glad that Ron had voiced his opinion. Harry was sure that Hermione was about to say something but she didn’t. Maybe those two have finally stopped bickering, thought Harry.
“I’m going to go and look for her,” said Ron, after another half an hour of placing balloons and setting up tables around the newly constructed tent.
“She’s fine, Ron, honestly. Leave her be,” said Hermione, blowing up five balloons at once with her wand and levitating them so that they hung just above the opening to the tent.
“I’m telling you, that boy is…” Ron began, but Hermione angrily grabbed his arm above the elbow and pulled him away from everyone else.
“Those two!” exclaimed Charlie, smiling and levitating some more balloons above the tent.
Ron and Hermione returned a moment later, and Ron looked as if he’d reached some sort of giant epiphany. Mrs. Weasley gave him a knowing look and they went back to work. The sun had begun to lower on the horizon before Ginny, finally, trooped back towards the house.
“Hello, all,” she called before sliding into the house, presumably to get ready for the wedding.
“If you don’t mind, Mrs. Weasley, do you think I could be excused to get ready as well?” asked Hermione, once she finished blowing up all her balloons and using a sticking charm to attach them to the now clothed table.
“Yes, of course dear, I’ll join you,” replied Mrs. Weasley, and both she and Hermione walked back towards the house together.
“I ‘zink I will go and get ready as well, my dear, au revoir,” said Fleur, kissing Bill on the cheek and following Hermione and Mrs. Weasley into the house.
“You boys should get ready as well,” called Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen window.
“Mum, we’ve got two hours,” cried Ron indignantly, “we don’t have to get ready for at least another “ well “ two hours.”
This got a laugh out of the other Weasleys and Harry. They passed the time by throwing a spare Quaffle around and rolling around in the grass; all in all they had a lot of fun. Throwing the Quaffle, however, made Harry’s heart ache for Quidditch, especially now that he knew he had already played his last game for Hogwarts. He lost some of the giddiness he was experiencing after this revelation. However, Lupin, Hagrid, Mr. Weasley and the twins soon arrived with a pleasant surprise.
“Fireworks!” exclaimed Ron, as Fred let off a large rocket into the sky, creating a shower of red and gold sparks. “Wicked!”
“And this, Harry, is for you,” said Lupin, smiling and handing Harry a leather-bound notebook.
Harry looked at it with interest and opened it to the first page to see that it was blank. Harry flipped through the other pages and saw that they were all blank.
“This wouldn’t be a diary would it?” asked Harry teasingly, “I’ve had bad experiences with those.”
“Trust me, Harry, it’s not that kind of diary,” replied Lupin, smiling. “On your quest,” he said more quietly, “if there’s anything you might need to write down this would help. It’s charmed somewhat like the Marauder’s Map, simply tap it three times to reveal what you’ve written and tap it three more to make it blank again. It will only work with yours, Ron’s or Hermione’s wand.”
“Thanks, this will be really useful,” said Harry enthusiastically.
He and Lupin walked into the house, leaving the Weasleys and Hagrid outside with the fireworks.
“Your mother had one that was very similar which she would take notes in,” Lupin said as he removed his travelling cloak and poured himself a small cup of tea, “James and Sirius would always steal it, at least once a week, and it would drive poor Lily crazy,” he added chuckling.
Harry always enjoyed these small travels back into his parents’ past. Lupin poured Harry a cup of tea and Harry took a seat at the kitchen table, letting his thoughts drift to his parents.
A few moments later, Tonks came in through the front door followed, closely by Viktor Krum.
“Hello, luv,” said Tonks, kissing Lupin on the cheek and then moving over to Harry and kissing his cheek as well, “Look who I found.”
Krum moved into the kitchen and Harry greeted him warmly.
“How are you, Viktor?”
“I am not bad,” replied Krum slowly. “I have improved my English, no?”
“Very much so,” said Harry, smiling as he introduced Krum to Lupin and to Bill and Charlie who had just walked in from the garden. The six of them conversed happily for a few minutes before Tonks startled them all.
“Merlin’s beard!” she exclaimed, staring at spot behind Harry’s head. “Do I get to look like that too?”
Harry turned and looked up the stairs where Tonks was staring and his jaw dropped. Hermione and Ginny, both wearing matching dresses of brilliant gold, were both more beautiful than Harry had ever seen them. Harry’s eyes lingered on Ginny much longer than he had intended them to and he sincerely hoped she didn’t notice. He smiled at Hermione and she gave him a quick wink.
“Her-my-o-nee,” said Viktor, staring at her much the same way that Harry had stared at Ginny.
“Hello, Viktor,” she said once she reached the bottom of the stairs. It was at that inopportune moment that Ron, his father and the twins decided to enter the kitchen. Ron took one look at Hermione and slipped on the rug. He would have toppled over had it not been for his father, who caught him.
“Wow!” said Fred, staring between Hermione and his younger sister, “what have you two done with Hermione and Ginny?”
“You said it, bro,” said George, with much the same expression as his twin.
Ron said nothing and swept by both the girls without a word, making sure to bang roughly into Krum on his way past. Hermione turned her hurt eyes towards Harry who smiled sympathetically. Ginny opened her mouth to yell after her brother but Davey chose that moment to enter the house as well. He was wearing spectacular robes of glistening blue that matched perfectly (of course) with Ginny’s bridesmaid dress.
“I have to get ready,” said Harry automatically and he rushed up the stairs before anyone could say anything. He reached his and Ron’s room and opened the door to find Ron punching a pillow rhythmically.
“You alright, mate?” asked Harry.
Ron nodded silently, grabbed his dress robes and stalked off into the bathroom to change. Harry changed into his robes in the room quickly and waited patiently for Ron finish. In a way, he thought, he knew exactly how Ron was feeling. Harry knew Ron had feelings for Hermione, ever since the Yule Ball in their fourth year, and yet Hermione was downstairs, looking breathtaking, with another man. Ron skulked out of the bathroom wearing his new dress robes, which were a massive improvement from the frilly ones he had worn during their fourth year. Harry did notice, however, that Ron’s robes looked nowhere near as good as Krum’s.
“Those are better than the old ones, wouldn’t you say mate?” said Harry trying, to cheer Ron up.
“I suppose so,” he said quietly. “Ready?”
Harry nodded and they made their way back downstairs and out into the garden. Harry saw several old faces in the large crowd, including Kingsley Shacklebolt, Gabrielle Delacour (Fleur’s younger sister, who came over and greeted Harry with a kiss), and even Professors Flitwick and Slughorn, who was dressed in robes of deep magenta. Harry and Ron went over to each of them a spoke for a few moments, exchanging pleasantries. Harry noticed that Ron was craning his neck, looking for Hermione, but he was unsuccessful in finding her.
“Reckon we should sit down and get ready for dinner?” asked Harry, after a few minutes of walking around and talking with old friends.
“Might as well,” he replied. “Where in the hell is Hermione?”
Harry looked around in search of his friend but didn’t see her either. So far, Harry was not enjoying himself. Harry eventually spotted Hermione sitting at a table with Krum, Ginny, Davey, Lupin and Tonks. Hermione gave him an excited wave that he did not return with quite as much fervour. Lupin caught his eye as well and excused himself from where he was sitting. Lupin made his way over to Harry and Ron and sat down next to Harry.
“You don’t look like you’re having much fun, Harry,” he said.
“Was it that obvious?” Harry said, a little more impolitely than he had intended “Sorry, I just…” his voice trailed off and he glanced over at Ginny again.
“She misses you too, Harry,” said Lupin, staring at the young man’s face. “More than you may know.”
“Is that why she refuses to speak to me?” Harry replied frowning.
“I think tonight is as good night as any for us to try Firewhisky,” said Ron, more to himself than to Harry and Lupin.
He turned around in his chair and looked towards the bar “ he seemed hopeful.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea, Ron,” said Lupin, chuckling to himself. “Something tells me Molly wouldn’t approve of that.”
With that, Lupin gave both Harry and Ron a gentle squeeze on the shoulder and went back to his table.
“Why so down, you two?” said Fred, coming over and taking Lupin’s now empty seat.
“Yeah, you two look about as happy as Mum did the night she found us with our very lovely lady friends,” added George, kneeling in between Harry and Ron.
“Nothing,” Harry and Ron said angrily and surprisingly in sync.
“All right, don’t get your knickers in a twist,” said George as he and Fred jumped up.
“Lighten up, will you?” added Fred over his shoulder and the twins disappeared from sight.
“Really helpful, those two,” said Ron sarcastically, still staring fixedly at Hermione, who seemed to be truly enjoying herself.
Finally, most of the guests sat down at their respective tables. Harry and Ron were joined by Kingsley and Charlie as well as Flitwick and McGonagall. Harry and Ron carried on a rather pleasant conversation with Kingsley and Charlie about Quidditch that Harry wished could have continued. It was soon time, however, for the ceremony.
Harry, having never been to a wizard wedding, was genuinely interested in how the ceremony was performed. It was rather normal, he thought. An appointed Ministry official stood up and did his bit about what marriage was. Fleur and Bill each exchanged vows that they had written (Ron was overcome with fits of laughter when Bill was delivering his vows, which earned Ron a very reproachful look from Professor McGonagall), and then the two exchanged rings and were married. After Bill had kissed Fleur, a little too fervently by the look on Mrs. Weasley’s face, he and his new bride walked to the centre of the dance floor and everyone quieted down.
The band, which Harry thought must have materialized from out of thin air, began playing a very slow song. Bill and Fleur danced together while everyone watched, smiling. Harry had a hard time paying attention and, instead, he tried to catch a small fly that was buzzing around.
Finally, the song ended and everyone began clapping for the newlyweds. Bill held up his hands in thanks and then said with a smile,
“Who else is ready to dance?”
“Not me,” whispered Ron as he slumped down in his chair after seeing Krum escort Hermione onto the dance floor.
“Me either,” replied Harry as he watched Davey do the same with Ginny.
After only two rather faced-passed songs, however, Hermione came striding over to where Harry and Ron were sitting and looked squarely at Ron, her cheeks a light shade of pink. Ron looked like he was getting ready to yell at her, and frankly, Harry wasn’t going to stop him. What Hermione did say, however, surprised both of them.
“Would you like to dance?” she asked innocently, shuffling her feet slightly.
Ron seemed to be at a loss for words. When he found his voice again, it came out a little squeaky.
“Wouldn’t… umm… wouldn’t you rather dance with Vicky? It looked as if you were having a pretty good time,” he said sourly.
“No, I’d rather dance with you “ but if you want me to go back and dance with him…” she said, turning around.
“No, wait, Hermione. I’d umm… I’d like very much to dance with you.”
She smiled at him and helped Ron off his feet. Harry gave Ron and encouraging push and his two best friends were off on the dance floor. Ron looked extremely uncomfortable at first, but he settled down eventually and it seemed he was rather enjoying himself. Harry then sat there, alone, watching Ginny dance happily “ and far too closely for his liking “ with Davey, who he was beginning to loathe entirely. Harry noticed Lupin and Tonks standing by the makeshift bar off to the side and decided to go join them.
“Wotcher, Harry,” yelled Tonks, waving, from across the garden. Harry waved back meekly and reached them within seconds.
“Hi, Tonks,” he said lamely.
“I told you that you made a mistake, didn’t I?” she said, grinning ear to ear.
“Thanks… now I feel much better,” said Harry sarcastically, as Lupin handed him a glass of Butterbeer from the barman.
Harry glanced up to thank Lupin and he saw him give Tonks a small nod.
“Come on, Harry,” Tonks said, grabbing his elbow. “You need to dance.”
“But I don’t want…” he began; however, Tonks was dragging him forcefully to the dance floor until they were in the centre of it.
“There, isn’t that better, Harry?” she asked, smiling as she began to dance.
“Not much,” he replied quietly, but he began to dance as well.
As the first song ended, Tonks twirled Harry around in an impressive manoeuvre that landed him right in front of Ginny. It seemed Davey had done the exact same manoeuvre as Tonks because Ginny seemed a little wobbly as well. Harry stood silent for a moment and then he heard the music slow down considerably and everyone seemed to draw each other close. Harry wasn’t quite sure what to do; Tonks and Davey were both smiling triumphantly, as Lupin made his way over to Tonks’ side.
“I see it worked quite well,” he said, reaching Tonks.
“Told you it would “ now you owe me five galleons. Come on, I’ll knock it down to four if you dance with me.”
And with that, Lupin and Tonks drew in close to each other and began to slow dance. Harry looked over Ginny’s shoulder, for a moment, and laughed out loud at the sight of Ron and Hermione trying to figure out what to do with their hands. He then looked at Davey, who gave him a small wink and then turned on his heels and walked towards the bar. Harry’s eyes then locked back onto Ginny, who was still standing in front of him.
“Wanna dance?” she asked sheepishly.
“Sure,” Harry replied, his heart in his throat. She really looked beautiful.
They held onto one another and danced to the song without speaking. Harry couldn’t help thinking just how perfectly she fit in his arms. Finally, as the song ended, Ginny looked up at him.
“Fancy a walk?” she asked, in another sheepish voice.
“Yeah,” Harry replied lamely.
They walked off the dance floor, out of the garden and down the road leading up to the Burrow.
“Are you sure Davey won’t miss you?” asked Harry, more angrily than he wanted to. “Sorry,” he added.
At this Ginny began to giggle a little and then she burst into all out laughter and it was a few moments before she finally calmed down. Harry was staring at her “ completely dumbstruck.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, slightly annoyed now.
“Oh, Harry, he’s our neighbour,” she confessed, and then fell into more fits of giggles.
“Your neighbour… well… what’s so funny about that?”
“Our gay neighbour, Harry,” she replied, through her laughter. “I’ve known him for years, Davey Fawcett. He’s such a sweet boy too. I’m sure you’ve seen him at school; his sister is in your year and he’s in my year, in Ravenclaw. I met him the year before I went to Hogwarts. I was alone with just Mum and Dad and I needed someone my age to keep me company and that’s how I met Davey. Before you got here, I asked him to pretend to be my boyfriend so that… well… to get you to decide for yourself whether or not you still had feelings for me and he happily agreed.”
Harry slowly began to understand.
“Did everyone know?” Harry asked.
“Of course,” she said, “it was Hermione’s idea. I had been writing to her about it all summer.”
“Even Ron knew?”
“Well not at first, he’d never met Davey before either, but I think Hermione told me she got upset with Ron and finally told him.”
That must’ve been what Hermione told Ron when she pulled him aside earlier in the day, Harry thought.
“You did all this to find out if I still liked you or not?” asked Harry after a minute or so. “Wasn’t that obvious? Of course I still liked you… I just didn’t want to put you in harm’s way. Now… well, I realize that… you’re already in harm’s way. I need you in my life.”
Ginny looked like she was about to cry and Harry moved in close to her and hugged her.
“Why didn’t you just ask me how I felt?” Harry asked, rubbing her back.
“Are you telling me you wouldn’t have lied and said that you didn’t still like me, in order to protect me,” she said, smirking slightly and raising her eyebrows at him.
“Well… you could have… umm…” but he had nothing to say.
He knew, now more than ever, that he needed Ginny in his life. He needed her joy and her warmth if he was going to have any chance of defeating Voldemort. Wasn’t it Dumbledore himself who said the one thing that Voldemort didn’t understand was love?
“Ginny, I…” Harry began, but Ginny put both her hands on the side of his head and kissed him soundly, finally coming up for air a few minutes later.
“That’s what I was about to say,” teased Harry, kissing her on the forehead and holding her gently in his arms.
They made their way back (as slowly as possible) to the wedding where everything was in full swing and Harry, for the first time that night, thought he might actually enjoy himself.