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Elemental Force	By : aikakone Category: Harry Potter > General > General Views: 3427 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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CHAPTER 3:

The Fall Ball and a Broomstick
All of your spells will break; All of your stars will fall

So look out for number one; Fame is in your blood

~Neil Finn

The first day of October fell on a Wednesday, and it was also the midpoint of the week of detention for Ginny and Harry. The tone of the detentions was one of diligent work, and Harry was able to recognize that. After learning that they were helping to make the Wolfsbane Potion for Remus, the workload felt more bearable for him.
In fact, Harry almost felt that it was like an advanced Potions class because there weren´t any Slytherins there, and Snape rarely ridiculed him without the benefit of an audience. It was also better than the private Occlumency lessons he had in fifth year because Snape was keeping a wide berth from Harry´s mind. His assertion to McGonagall that he actually was good at Potions if given the proper chance was reinforced to be true, even if only in Harry´s estimation of the situation.
Potions and detentions were not the things on the minds of the rest of the students while they were having lunch on that first day of the month. Several of the seventh years and a few members of the Quidditch team were sitting together at the house table while an excited murmur was spreading from the other tables in the hall. The source of the noise was soon answered when Dean Thomas joined his housemates.
"So did you hear what the professors are planning?" Dean asked excitedly as he sat down at the table.
"What´s that?" Seamus, with a mouth full of potatoes, asked his best friend.
"We´re going to have a Halloween Ball this year," Ron interjected dryly before Dean could answer.
Dean gave Ron a look for taking away the important announcement he wanted to make. Ron merely tapped at his badge as a way of explanation of his foreknowledge.
"Hey, that´s Ginny´s birthday," Harry said as he realized it.
Ron nodded casually in confirmation of his own sister´s birthday.
Ginny flashed Harry a smile brighter than one hundred torches because he remembered. "I know who´s going to be my date!" She snuggled closer to her boyfriend and added to the others, "Besides, if the whole school wants to give me a party on my birthday, who am I to object?"
Harry smiled goofily right back at his girlfriend.
Neville, quietly watching the conversation, decided to ask Ron pointedly, "So are you going to ask your favorite witch to the dance this time?"
"I don´t know, Neville" Harry whispered with a wink. To Ron he teased, "Didn´t the Yule Ball back in our fourth year spoil you to all school-sponsored dances?"
"I think Neville has a good question," Ginny giggled. "It´s about time Ron did the asking."
"Who?" Ron asked, pretending to be clueless.
"Probably her," Ginny said, indicating Hermione who was walking over to the table.
Ron´s neck and ears blushed bright pink as she sat down beside him. "Hermione," he acknowledged.
"Ron has something to ask you, Hermione," Harry said nonchalantly to her.
"No, I don´t!" He glared at his sister and best friend.
Hermione looked at them without concern because odd behavior was nothing new for her friends.
Ron was relieved to have stopped Harry and Ginny for the moment, but deep inside he knew this would not be the last from them before the month was over.
~*~*~*~
Ron was completely correct that Ginny and Harry would not let the matter rest. It could have been karmic revenge on him for being so active in getting them together. Now he really wished he would have left the two of them alone to their own clueless devices.
When he saw Ginny walking on the grounds between classes, Ron grabbed his sister by the arm to talk some sense into her.
She turned to him with a look of menace like a viper ready to strike. "What do you want?"
If he didn´t know her so well, he would have been afraid of her. Ginny looked completely volatile.
"I want you to leave me alone, Ginny!" he warned his sibling with a murderous threat.
"I can´t. I´m your sister. Remember?" She looked at him then with an expression of sweet innocence, something which Ron knew to be an elaborate façade.
"That´s not what I mean! Stop pestering me about Hermione." Ron ground his teeth in anger.
She rounded on her brother and looked at him in disgust. "Isn´t it about time you do something about it? You´ve liked her for years, and this is your last year together. Time is wasting, Ron."
"Look, just because you and Harry are finally a couple does not mean that you have to pair up the rest of the world!" Ron huffed angrily.
"Yes, I do–especially when it´s so obvious that two people need to be together. You did the same thing to get me and Harry together."
"Well, that´s different," Ron said in an off-handed tone. "I´m your big brother, and I´m supposed to look after you."
Ginny raised her eyebrow to give him a look to the contrary and then resumed her walk away from her brother.
"I mean it, Ginny! Stay out of this!" He shouted to her back, but she only acknowledged him with a dismissive wave of her hand as she kept moving.
~*~*~*~
Friday classes came and went quickly for Ginny. She and Colin had double Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws as per schedule. After her class she met Harry so they could finish the last day of their detention as quickly as Professor Snape would allow. She felt almost light of step in anticipation of the extra work involved in detention being complete.
Ginny schooled her face not to smile or show any joy at the prospect of serving her last day of detention as she entered the classroom with Harry. He, too, wore an equally inoffensive expression on his face. Snape met them in front of the classroom. He was standing tall with his stringy hair over his face and his hands behind his back.
"It seems we have come to the final day of your detentions, Potter and Weasley," he said, particularly emphasizing their names as if they felt bad in his mouth. "Your work today will be different than the other days."
A brief chill of terror ran through Ginny as she imagined that he was saving his worst for last.
Harry was told to put things away in the storeroom beside the dungeon classroom, but not before completely cleaning the shelves from various amounts of dust, spiders and other gathered debris. Harry thought inwardly that it was the work lower than that of a house elf, but he wouldn´t dare mention that now to Ginny who was with him and especially not later to Hermione who would become full of righteous indignation.
Snape commented acidly to Ginny that she did have extremely neat and orderly handwriting. For her he gave a rather large and old dusty Potions text to copy into a new book.
"Make sure you copy the directions clearly and completely. I would hate to have a mistake when it is time to serve you a potion, Miss Weasley." There was a twinkle of amusement in his eyes that usually came when he was being malicious to a Gryffindor.
Both students went about their work as complacently as possible. They were separated and the tasks were involved, making it easy to get lost in them. It was only near the end of the time to serve detention that Professor Snape came out of his office with a flimsy news parchment in his hand.
"It looks like Potter is again trying to be an attention-seeking glory hound," he said indicating the article by David Tompkins in the new student paper the Hogwarts Herald.
Ginny, who was very interested in what Harry´s interview might say, asked, "Oh, please let me read that, sir."
Harry didn´t want Snape´s negative attention and gave Ginny a frantic look. He murmured from the doorway of the storage room, "I can tell you about the interview later, Ginny."
He was not quick enough for the professor who commenced reading the article in mock tones.

"Potter Stands at the Head of the Team:
Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived, smiles confidently as he talks about the Gryffindor house Quidditch team. The Seeker and Captain believes in his team´s chances to win the house cup in this, his final year at Hogwarts.

"You would, Potter," Snape commented as an aside from the news text. "Your cockiness never ceases to amaze me."
The two students worked in miserable silence as Snape continued to deride Harry´s every comment in the newspaper article, which had actually been written very well. Tompkins had been an unbiased writer, and that was a rare find after all Harry´s other experience with reporters.
Professor Snape continued reading with malicious glee. When the obligatory comments about Harry being an orphan were written into the article, he had to stop and reiterate again at what a horrible person James Potter was and how Harry was just like his father. Oddly, Snape never mentioned one foul word against Lily, perhaps because as Harry knew from his trip into the pensieve that Lily had once defended him.
Harry tried not to give in to the resentment that was building within him. He knew this was just the low tactics of a bitter man, and his rudeness was nothing new to him because he had experienced it the entire time of his Hogwarts schooling. Still, the words of mocking hit sore spots that Harry didn´t realize were still there.
He was working and trying to shut out the man´s words. Incessantly they came barraging his ears. Finally, when it seemed he could take it no more, the metal tray that Harry was holding heated unbearably in his hands, and Harry gave a whelp of pain. The tray seemed to jump of its own accord, and several of the neat and orderly bottles crashed to the floor. At the same time, the ancient tome Ginny had been duplicating tumbled from her hands and landed in the fire. Further complicating the matter, several empty glass vials around them shattered with no apparent cause.
All three of the people in the room stopped in amazement, Snape most certainly thinking that the evil students had done these things on purpose. The moment was frozen in fear, and it was only shattered by Snape´s shriek of rage. It was not clear which student offense was worse in his mind, but the situation was horribly wrong.
Ginny looked at the livid face of her professor and then at the book burning in the fireplace. Without pausing to consider her actions, she quickly reached into the fire and pulled out the charred book. She blew the smoke from the book and offered it meekly to Snape without a word.
He took the book under his arm while staring suspiciously from Ginny to Harry. He stroked the book in consolation as one would stroke a pet cat, but he hadn´t found words for his anger yet. Both students inwardly cowered for when he would start to rail against them. Everything would undoubtedly be their fault even if it was an accident or something out of their control.
"It seems Potter has a temper. I always knew it, Potter. Again you prove to me how horrible you are," the professor snarled.
Ginny sent worried looks to Harry, but Harry didn´t acknowledge her. Meanwhile Snape continued.
"I would have you clean this mess, but I see that you both have too much of a gift for destruction." He looked at them with his air of haughty reserve and then used his wand to clean the broken glass. That being done, he yelled at the pair one more time. "Go! Get out."
Ginny and Harry did not at first move until they heard his voice say, "Now!"
They backed slowly out of the room as he changed his attention to the burned book in his hands. When they reached the threshold, both paused, and he looked up from his book to stare at them with the most hateful expression Ginny had ever seen on his face.
He did not speak to her and did not make threats. It was at that moment that Ginny found him to be his most intimidating. As the sister of pranksters, she had a sense of people´s intentions. She knew he had something planned and that it would amount to no good.
~*~*~*~
On Saturday at lunch, an unknown guest was seen chatting with the professors at the head table. While few of the students actually knew who he was, there was no mistaking the shade of bright red hair that could only be described as Weasley-red and heralded his membership to the family. Ron and Ginny didn´t at first notice Bill until he strode over to the Gryffindor table with a satisfied look on his face while hiding something behind his back.
"Good afternoon!" he greeted with a huge smile. He still had the long ponytail that Mrs. Weasley despised, and his fang earring bobbed as he stood in front of his family.
"Bill!" Ginny jumped up from the table and grabbed her oldest brother with crushing force. Ron stood up, too, but gave him a manly one-armed hug instead.
"Why are you here," she asked with a smile, "and what are you hiding?"
"It looks broom-shaped to me, Ginny," Ron deadpanned.
"Quite right, my brother," Bill winked. "But you can not be too sure as this comes for Miss Ginny Weasley from Messers. Fred and George Weasley."
Ginny wrinkled her brow. "Fred and George got me a broom?"
Already laughing at the possibility, Ron said, "It could be a trick broom from their shop! Maybe when you fly it, it will turn into a Muggle vacuum cleaner." After thinking about it more, Ron thought differently. "No, that´s not nearly funny enough for them. It probably will try to shake you off of it and not even let you ride it."
Bill smiled wryly because he, too, knew the inventiveness of the twins. "It´s not so exciting this time, Ron. This time the broom is just a broom."
"Thank you, Bill, but why didn´t they bring it themselves?" Ginny asked. "Are they still refusing to come back to Hogwarts after dealing with that Umbridge woman?"
He gave them both a look of chastisement. "Can't I want to spend time with my baby brother and sister?" He looked from one to the other, who each had the good sense to look embarrassed.
Bill then broke out with one of his smiles that had made him a hit with most of the female and some of the male population. "Truth be told, this is quite the expensive broom our brothers bought for you, Ginny. They are doing well with the shop and wanted to get you something extra-special for your sixteenth birthday. When they spent so much money, they needed someone who works at Gringotts to accompany the money and the merchandise. Consider it financial security. So... that leads to me," he put his splayed fingers over his heart and bent his head, "delivering this broom personally to you, my sister, from our dear brothers."
Harry, who had been waiting silently near them for a while, finally spoke. "Open it, Ginny! I can´t wait to see what broom you have! It could be a Nimbus. I always loved that broom," he said with fond remembrance.
"It might help the team´s chances of winning, not that you actually need help. Isn´t that right, Ron?" Bill nudged the youngest of his brothers.
Ron pushed back at his oldest brother with good humor while being curious himself about the broom that Fred and George had given to Ginny.
"Oh course!" she said because she didn´t need that much encouragement to open the present. "Bill, please stay and eat lunch with us," she invited before she began.
He smiled widely, and it reminded Harry again how Bill had a charm that would not be out of place at a Muggle rock concert.
Hermione had come to the table as Ginny was inviting Bill to eat lunch, and she was thrilled to see the eldest Weasley sibling. "Bill!" she squealed in delight and gave him a big hug.
Ron, watching this, felt his face fall just for a moment when he saw Hermione with her arms around his brother. Thankfully, Ginny was not watching him then, but Harry noticed. Luckily for Ron, Harry chose not to mention it.
After releasing Hermione from his embrace, Bill joined them at the Gryffindor table for lunch. It was a cause for an impromptu celebration for Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione. The rest of the Quidditch team, curious of seeing yet another Weasley who was so obviously cool, plus the fact that he had brought Ginny a new broom, came to sit with the group around Bill. Animated talk was heard up and down the table, and a significant amount of it was speculation about the broom which Ginny had still not taken out of its wrappings.
Kristin, Ginny´s fellow chaser, finally had enough of waiting. "Open the broom right now, Ginny, or I´ll have to ask Hobie and Dina not to save you from any bludgers in practice. Even worse, I´ll turn Kyle loose on you. You know it´s been his dream to out-Weasley a Weasley."
Laughing, but enjoying the others´ suspense, Ginny finally relented. First she took the card and read it to the others. "It says ‘To Ginny for your birthday. Love Gred and Feorge.´ Huh. I would have thought they might have written something more personal."
Ron swatted his sister. "They´re probably too busy at their shop. Now stop making us wait!"
She smirked at Ron and then with meticulous and deliberate slowness unwrapped the brown paper from around her broom. The handle of the broom was oak polished to a reddish purple. She removed the paper to reveal the opposite end of the broom. The wheat-colored straws were all sleek and trimmed to a perfect aerodynamic teardrop shape. The silver writing on the handle declared it to be a Pleiades 7.
"Wow," Ginny and several others gasped in appreciation. "It´s beautiful."
Ron laughed and slapped the table with glee, earning him a glare from Ginny. "What?" she questioned with annoyance.
"No one´s ever heard of a Pleiades 7. It hasn´t even been mentioned in Quidditch Weekly." Ron continued to laugh. "Our brothers did get you a trick broom!"
"Ginny, it´s a new prototype," Bill assured his sister. "I checked it for curses and hexes myself before I brought it here. As far as our brothers are concerned, it doesn´t have any magical enhancements."
She hugged Bill quickly and sat down. To the others she promised to test the broom after lunch was finished.
When talk of the broom had momentarily subsided, the next big topic was the coming Halloween Ball. A few of the students already had dates and were gleefully sharing that information with Bill. Some of the girls were blatantly flirting with him at this point in vain hopes to snare him to be their date for the Ball. Bill good-naturedly shrugged it off with an inoffensive smile.
"So, Bill, how are things going with you and Fleur?" Ginny asked loudly to stop the girls from pestering her brother.
"Ignore her, Bill! She´s been trying to pair up everyone in the known universe," Ron advised as he poked the air with his fork for emphasis.
"Only the people that need pairing, dear brother," she said pointedly to Ron. "And the odds are Bill has everything just fine with Fleur. Isn´t that right, Bill?"
"Who do you need to be paired with, Ron?" Bill said, deflecting his attention back to his brother.
Ginny opened her mouth to say, but Ron put his hand over her mouth before she could say it.
"No one, Bill. Isn´t that right, Ginny?" He looked at his sister with a warning fire in his eyes.
Ginny slapped her brother´s hand off her face, and said, "You know, sooner or later, that witch that you so obviously love, is going to become tired of being called ‘no one.´ She might decide it´s time to find someone better!"
Ginny crossed her arms across her chest and stared daggers at her brother across her plate.
While Ginny was pouting about Ron and his social-ineptitude, Dina noticed an article in Hermione´s copy of the Daily Prophet about a new executive named Jonathan Moss at the London branch of Gringotts Wizard Bank. When she finished scanning the article she turned to her fellow beater to inform him he needed to be more like the man in the article.
"What´s so great about him?" Hobie asked defensively.
Dina sighed and rolled her eyes at him before addressing Bill. "You work at Gringotts, don´t you?"
Bill tapped his temple in salute, saying, "The best curse-breaker they got!"
"So you must have seen this Moss before. What´s he like?" Dina leaned forward in her seat ready to listen to every word Bill would say.
"Nice bloke. He works with the Muggles on exchanges and such. They usually like him, so he´s good for business." Bill continued to eat everything, stuffing himself like he hadn´t been well fed in a long time.
Dina turned to Hobie again. "See? You need to be like that. More charming and fix up your looks."
"I am plenty charming, Dina! You just want to do a make over on me."
She gave a small shrug. "Are you going to the Halloween Ball?"
"With you? Not a chance!" He jested, and she laughed derisively.
"No, but you´ve had your eyes on that pretty Ravenclaw Artemis since last year. Go ask her. Unless your fan club won´t let you!" Dina cocked her head to indicate the pack of fan girls farther down the table.
Hobie knew that meant war. "I will ask her if you ask that bloke you have been going on and on about. It is seriously getting annoying, Gabardine!" He pronounced every syllable of her name slowly. "I might have to tell him for you that you fancy him."
She gasped. "You wouldn´t!"
"Oh, yes. I would!" He fluttered his eyelashes at her.
"Excellent! Dina has a crush," Kyle piped in and winked conspiratorially to Hobie.
"You wouldn´t think of it, Rothery, or else I will have to tell Kristin about your pranking plans for the Halloween Ball." She looked from him to Kristin and then said, "Oops!" in mock innocence.
The Quidditch team members quieted from their conversation as the remains of the lunch was cleared away. Bill then stood up and gave hugs all around to Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Harry before he left Hogwarts. Both his siblings had asked him to come back and see the game if he could make it, and he agreed to try because he was as interested as they were to see Ginny on her new broom in action.

~*~*~*~

The Neil Finn quote in this chapter is from "Fame Is", performed by Crowded House on the albumWoodface.
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