Now And Forever
Chapter 24

By Abraxan

As the wedding day approached, Harry’s team mates put ever greater efforts into taking the mickey out of their Seeker in every way they could think of, but on game day, they were all business. The London Lions were currently in first place in the Quidditch League standings, but with only a few games remaining in the season, they were only slightly ahead of the Holyhead Harpies. This Easter match-up between the Lions and Harpies was vitally important as a result.

The game was a close one, keeping the spectators on their feet screaming themselves hoarse nearly the whole time. The Harpies gave the Lions a serious run for their money, but in the end, the Lions won by a good enough margin to maintain their lead in league standings.

Harry soared above the cheering crowd pumping his Snitch-filled hand joyously. Most of the team was clustered around Ron, who had made some spectacular saves. The rest raced to thump Harry on the back and congratulate him as he headed toward Ron.

Harry pounded fists with Ron. "Well done, mate!"

"And you, as well!" Ron said, absolutely beaming from the praise of his team mates.

Harry accepted and shared congratulations with the rest of the team, then dutifully flew to pound fists with the opposing Seeker. When the Lions took up their positions around the stadium to sign autographs, Harry signed autographs for a little while, then flew to the family box, where Ginny was watching her first game since school had started. She’d been given special permission to leave school to do final preparations for her wedding.

"You were wonderful!" Ginny said when Harry landed next to her.

"Having you here made such a difference for me," he said, pulling her into his arms. Their embrace resulted in cheers all over the stadium. Harry looked up and saw that the cameraman filming the game had spotted them and was showing the live feed on the giant screen that showed the details of certain plays as well as the score. Harry turned and waved to the crowd, resulting in more cheers, then lifted Ginny in his arms and kissed her soundly. The crowd reacted by sending off sparks from their wands and stomping their feet in time to the chant, "POT-TER! POT-TER! POT-TER! POT-TER!"

Harry found himself chuckling against Ginny’s lips. He pulled back and grinned at her. "You know what this is like?"

"No."

"It’s what I feel inside when I kiss you. Thousands of people screaming and cheering me on."

Ginny laughed. "If they do that when we kiss, then . . . ?" She left the thought hanging in the air, which made Harry laugh and kiss her again.

They were interrupted by the twins, who’d held off interrupting as long as they could stand it. "Well done, Harry!" Fred said, clapping Harry on the back.

"Excellent!" George added. "We won a lot of money on this game!"

"And now it’s on to the championships! You do plan to win that one too, right?" Fred said, frowning and acting much more serious than usual.

"Yeah, I plan on it," Harry said, grinning.

Fred’s serious demeanour vanished in an instant. "Good, because we have a pile of Galleons riding on it!"

"Potter!" Captain Smithers said, hovering his broom in front of the family box.

"Yes?"

Smithers waved Harry toward him. Once Harry was at the rail, Smithers said, "For this bachelor’s party tonight—any restrictions?"

"Restrictions?"

"Is there anything you don’t want us to bring, or do, or whatever?"

Fred and George suddenly surrounded Harry and leaned toward Smithers. "No restrictions whatsoever!" Fred said with a huge, wicked grin.

"Yeah, the wilder the better!" George added with a grin that matched his brother’s.

Harry felt a surge of panic. "Now wait a minute, guys—"

"No worries, Harry," Fred said, clapping Harry hard on the shoulder.

"We’ll take good care of you!" George added.

"Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about!"

Smithers laughed. "See you at seven then, Potter."

"Right."

* * * * *

An owl followed Harry into the locker room. He sighed when he saw the red envelope tied to its leg.

"You just had to go and spoil my day, didn’t you?" he grumbled at the owl. The bird gave him a reproachful look and stood there patiently with its leg held up so he could remove the letter. With a heavy sigh, Harry untied the Howler. He was still glaring at the red envelope when Ron joined him in the locker room.

"Blimey, Harry, who’d you piss off now?" Ron said, clapping him on the back. "Great game."

"Yeah, it was." Harry blew out an impatient breath and ripped open the Howler. A snippy woman’s voice echoed through the locker room, making the other players duck and cover until they realized there was no woman there.

"Mr. Potter, it has come to our attention that you were observed in a public display of affection with Miss Ginevra Weasley at four o’clock this afternoon, in direct violation of the agreement you made with the Hogwarts Board of Governors. You services at Hogwarts are hereby terminated. You may send for your things—"

Harry cast a small Blasting Charm at the Howler, which covered up the rest of what the shrewish voice had to say as well as disintegrating the envelope.

"Nice spell, Harry," Smithers said as he walked by. "So you’re not working at Hogwarts anymore?"

"I guess not." He sighed. It was going to be so perfect! And he had to screw it up to celebrate the Lions’ win with Ginny today. Damn, damn, DAMN!

"That’s just not right, mate," Ron said, shaking his head. "It’s stupid, that’s what it is."

Harry dropped like a stone onto the bench in front of his locker, his head in his hands. "It’s my own fault. I’ve never been good at following rules." He rubbed his eyes wearily. He and Ginny were already married! Living in his quarters was perfect for now! He was sleeping so much better with her next to him. When he did have nightmares, she could wake him quickly and he’d soon fall back to sleep with her snuggled up against him. What was he going to do?

"Have you considered talking to the Minister? She likes you. Maybe she could—" Ron suggested.

Harry looked at Ron. "Do you remember what happened the last time the Ministry interfered at Hogwarts?"

Ron shuddered. "Yeah. Umbridge. But Minister Bones is a lot better than Cornelius Fudge was. She wouldn’t let anything bad happen. You’re a hero, Harry. She’ll do it for you."

Harry shook his head. "No. I won’t ask her. It’s my own fault. I’ll just have to live with it. I just don’t know how I’m going to tell Ginny."

A light voice came from just outside the door by their lockers. "Tell Ginny what?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other in horror. How much had she heard?

"I’ll be out in a bit, Gin. Hang on," Harry called.

Ginny laughed. "After what Hermione told me about going in there unexpectedly, I won’t wander in unless I need an eyeful of naked men."

"She didn’t hear anything important," Ron murmured, "or she wouldn’t be so cheerful."

Harry nodded, then sighed and stood up. "Guess we’d better hit the showers. The whole family’s probably waiting to celebrate."

"Yeah, you look in a right state to celebrate," Ron said. "I’m sorry, Harry."

"Yeah. Me too."

* * * * *

"They did WHAT?" Ginny was livid. She and Harry were in the drawing room, but her voice carried throughout the house. All of the Weasleys and Dumbledore were at Harry’s house to change and have a quick dinner before the parties that evening. Remus and Tonks had gone home with Matthew, since the baby needed a nap and Tonks was hosting Ginny’s party that evening.

"What’s wrong, dear?" Molly said from the sitting room.

"Nothing," Ginny called back.

"Gin, I’m sorry," Harry murmured. "It’s my fault. I just didn’t think about it before I kissed you."

A sad smile crossed her face. "Nor did I. It’s as much my fault as yours."

"You’re too kind and I don’t deserve you," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her neck.

"Too bloody right," she replied. She was still angry, but not at Harry.

"They did WHAT?" Hermione said from across the room. Harry and Ron had agreed to tell the girls at the same time. Hermione’s clear voice carried so the rest of the family heard her.

"OK, both girls are annoyed about something," Fred said, a gleam of mischief in his eye as he and George entered the room. "What’s up? You two boys been up to no good? Or is it something to do with the stag party?"

"Yeah, um, that’s it," Ron said quickly. "Hermione doesn’t want us to have a stripper."

Hermione stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes. That’s true."

"Ginny?" George prompted. "Are you on about a stripper too?"

"No, I bloody well am not on about a stripper, although I could add that to my list," Ginny said. She turned back to Harry. "You need to talk to your grandfather."

He sighed. "Yes. I do." He squeezed her hand and started to leave her, but she didn’t release his hand.

"I’m going with you. They’re messing with my life, too," she said. She led Harry into the living room and stopped beside Dumbledore, who had been talking with Arthur and Molly. "Professor, may we have a word?"

"Of course." He got to his feet and followed them to the library. Harry quickly filled him in.

"I’m sorry, Grandfather. I shouldn’t have kissed her in public. I knew the rules," Harry said.

Dumbledore smiled. "My dear boy, under those circumstances, if I were you, I would’ve done the same thing."

"You’ll have my resignation in the morning," Harry said. "I’d like to return to Hogwarts to pack my things, if you don’t mind."

Dumbledore gave Harry’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You’re not leaving Hogwarts."

Harry frowned. "I have to."

"No, you don’t. The Board may make rules for the staff, but they can’t tell me who can live on the grounds. Those are your quarters, Harry. You and Ginny are welcome to them."

Harry wanted to be excited by this news, but he was afraid to trust it. "But your new Flying Instructor will need them."

Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow. "What new Flying Instructor? I have no intention of hiring someone else."

"But then the students won’t have instruction the rest of the year."

"And even with no further instruction, I believe they would all pass any level exam given them. You’ve trained them very well. Let me deal with the Board. You carry on as usual."

"But—"

"Harry—do you trust me?" Dumbledore said.

"Of course, but—"

"Then stop worrying. No matter what else happens, you don’t have to move out of those quarters until you want to, which I suspect will be at the end of Miss Weasley’s school term, yes?"

"That was the plan."

Dumbledore’s eyes grew distant and stroked his silver beard for several long, quiet minutes. Then he smiled. "Something just occurred to me. There is a way around the problem." He quirked a bushy eyebrow at Harry. "And you know it as well as I do."

Harry was thoroughly confused now. "I don’t understand."

"Am I paying you to teach, Harry?"

"No. I told you to use the money to buy new brooms."

"Then, my dear boy, you are a volunteer, not part of the school staff. The Board cannot tell you what to do."

Harry goggled at him. "Huh?"

"My mind just isn’t as quick as it once was." Dumbledore shook his head. "I wish I’d remembered earlier. It would have saved you and Miss Weasley a great deal of annoyance. I believe this lovely loophole will work. I don’t know if they’re aware that you take no salary for your work for Hogwarts. I will meet with them tomorrow, and I expect everything to be straightened out soon thereafter. Don’t you worry about it, all right?"

Harry felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Thank you, Grandfather!"

"It was all your doing, lad. You’re the one who refused to be paid because you thought the school should buy new brooms. Hogwarts can only repay your kind generosity by supplying quarters for your use."

"So I can still teach?" Harry loved teaching. The thought of not finishing the school term with his students was a painful one.

"I believe so, yes. Don’t worry about it anymore. We’re here to celebrate a great victory!"

"Make that two victories," Harry said, grinning now.

"Professor, you’re a wonder," Ginny said.

"Thank you, my dear. I take that as high praise indeed."

"And that’s how I meant it." She stood on tiptoe and kissed Dumbledore’s withered cheek, making him laugh.

* * * * *

Since their wedding was on a Friday night, Harry and Ginny’s friends had decided to have the stag and hen’s parties the Saturday before, rather than on Thursday night since both Hogwarts’ and Auror School students had the last of their pre-holiday tests the following day. When the Lions game didn’t go into overtime, all the players had time to clean up and change clothes, but they’d already told Harry if the game went into overtime, they’d just show up for the party sweaty and dirty—after all, he should be used to their smells by now, right?

Harry’s stag night was in an upstairs room of the Leaky Cauldron. Friends from Auror School and the entire London Lions team and staff were there, as well as Colin and Dennis Creevey, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Oliver Wood, Charlie Weasley and Fred and George, who’d organized the party. Dan Jacobs and a couple of the lads from Toads in the Loo joined them, as did the photographer, Trent Baird, and other shop owners from Diagon Alley who’d become friends with Harry on his lunchtime wanderings there.

Harry followed Ron into the room and simply stopped in the doorway, stunned at the huge turnout and by the flashbulbs going off in his face. More than a little unnerved, he shielded his eyes with his hand until the lights stopped flashing.

"I thought this was a private party?" he murmured to Ron when the hubbub died down.

"Yeah, well, with Fred and George in charge, what can you expect?" Ron grabbed Harry by the sleeve and led him to the table where Fred and George were demonstrating some joke products.

"See, it won’t open no matter what you do," Fred said as he tried to pry open a box of sweets. "But if you do anything other than try to pry open the lid—" He banged it on the table in apparent frustration. With a loud pop, the box burst, releasing a huge cloud of confetti that created purple-with-pink-polka-dots spots wherever they landed, whether on clothing, furniture, someone’s skin or hair. Shocked laughter rocked the room as Fred’s face was covered in purple-and-pink spots.

"How long before that wears off?" Dan Jacobs said, laughing with the rest.

"It can linger for days," George said with a wicked grin. "Or you can reverse it right away. Finite." With that, all the spots disappeared. Fred and George both spread their hands dramatically and said "Ta-da!" with identical grins.

"So what’s the entertainment tonight, lads?" Oliver Wood said.

"Yeah, I hope it’s better than it was for Weasley’s stag party!" one of the Lions’ chasers called, then laughed. "Not that it wasn’t entertaining, mind you!"

"What did I miss?" Oliver said, turning to look at Ron. "Was it good?"

Ron shrugged. "Depends on who you ask, I reckon."

* * * * *

"Neville! I thought you were still in the Mediterranean," Harry said, sitting down with his friend.

"I got my mail when we came into port about a week ago. Owls only come out to ships at sea for emergency messages, you know," Neville said. "When I saw the invitation, I had to stay ashore long enough to come to your stag party and wedding! I wouldn’t miss them. How’s Ginny?"

Harry grinned. "Beautiful. Funny. Feisty. As eager to be married as I am. She’s Head Girl this year, you know."

"I’m not surprised."

"How’s your research going?"

"It’s brilliant! I can’t tell you how exciting it is to be on a real research ship." Neville’s excitement was palpable.

"What kind of plants can you research in the middle of the sea?"

"Plankton, of course! And kelp, seaweed, and other such things. And we do go to port in various places, as well, and take smaller boats up rivers and so on. I was on the Nile a month ago, Harry! We collected samples of various reeds and other river plants there. You should see Egypt! It was amazing."

Harry was impressed. Neville had matured, with a great deal more self-assurance the most obvious change. And he was clearly very happy with his life. "And what about girls? Are there any on your ship?"

Neville blushed. "Well, there are a few."

Harry grinned and nudged his friend with his elbow. "And you’re quite taken with them, yeah?"

Neville ducked his head, his face bright pink now. "A bit."

Harry clapped Neville on the back. "Good for you, mate! Maybe your wedding will be next!"

Neville’s eyes widened in shock. "Oh, I don’t know about that!"

"Don’t forget to send Ginny and me an invitation!"

"No worries there. If and when that happens, you’ll be at the top of the list."

* * * * *

Ginny’s friends from school as well as many of her relatives showed up at the Lupins’ house for the party. The presents ranged from the normal housekeeping type of thing to lingerie naughty enough to make even Tonks blush. That particular garment came from Parvati, who beamed at the attention it got.

"It’s one of my designs, something I’m doing for my Paris portfolio," Parvati said. "I thought it would be fun to research the market for it in England. What do you think?"

Ginny’s face was as red as her hair, but she bravely held up the tiny little froth of lace. "It’s, um, exquisite. Thanks." She giggled. "Harry will love it."

"That’s what I wanted to hear!" Parvati said. "That’s the market I’m after!"

"Speaking of Harry," Alicia Spinnet said, "that beefcake calendar was hot!" This comment met with a great many cheers. "Is he going to do more like it?"

"I don’t know. It’s up to the Lions," Ginny said.

"I read that it out-sold any calendar that’s ever been published in the wizarding world," Angelina added. "And when I saw it, I could see why! Whoooo! That scrawny little boy grew up just fine!" More whoops and excited chatter erupted, including some ribald comments about Ron’s calendar as well as continued suggestive, cheeky, even off-colour comments about Harry’s.

Ginny just shook her head and smiled. And these are our friends! Just think how strangers talk about him! But they can’t have him. He’s mine! That thought warmed her heart to the point that she simply ignored the banter going on around her, lost in dreams of the life they’d soon start together.

"Earth to Ginny," Tonks said. "You OK?"

Ginny grinned at Tonks. "Couldn’t be better. Well, I could, actually, if Harry were here."

"Oh, no, just imagine how he’d react to all these comments if he were here!" Hannah Abbot said. "He’d just die!"

"He’d blush a lot, but he’d survive," Ginny said. She flipped the lacy lingerie still clasped in her hand. "And he’d want to know if there were more things like this in those packages." She reached for another present and opened it, enjoying the laughter of her friends.

"Did anyone bring any entertainment?" Alicia said when Ginny finished opening presents.

"Actually," Hermione said her cheeks bright pink, "I found something I thought we might enjoy."

"Bring it on!" the other girls shouted.

Hermione opened a case and brought out a film projector. "I got the idea from the twins, actually," she said as she caught Ginny’s eye, resulting in both of them laughing. Hermione started the projector and a film began. The title read, "Young Wizards on the Town." Catcalls and shouts followed as the film began. Four rather muscle-bound young wizards mugged for the camera and strutted around in tight jeans and T-shirts.

"Where’d you get this, Hermione?" Tonks said.

"I saw it in a catalogue Fred and George had."

Ginny looked at her in surprise. "You didn’t let them order it for you, did you?"

"Oh, no, I ordered directly from the catalogue," Hermione began. Just then, the film changed from showing the young men pulling off their T-shirts to display their beautifully-muscled bodies, to a scene of toothless old men slurping up coffee from large mugs, then grinning at the camera.

"Those twins!" Hermione grumbled, then laughed. "I guess I deserved that. I messed up every stag film they had."

"You did?" Alicia said gleefully. "What did they do about it?"

Hermione waved at the screen and laughed. "This!"

* * * * *

Fred sighed and turned off the projector amid a room full of jeers. The girls had managed to charm—or was it hex?—the films for Harry’s party, as they’d done for Ron’s. Fred and George hadn’t even bothered to hire a stripper this time, remembering what Ginny had done to the last one. Instead, a huge cake was rolled into the room by Tom, the pub’s proprietor.

"Thanks, Tom! We’ll take it from here," George said, slipping a tip to the man.

"You’ve got a girl in there, right?" Ron said with a laugh, knowing his twin brothers all too well. "C’mon then, get on with it!"

Fred acted wounded. "A girl. Would we put a girl in there and take a chance on being hexed by not only the great Harry Potter himself, but our dainty little sister, as well?"

"Nope, this is simply a confection we had prepared as a treat," George agreed. He lifted a cake knife and sliced a piece that included a large purple rose, then handed it to Harry. "Here ya go, mate."

Harry took the plate warily, certain the twins were up to something. But what could it be? "Thanks." He eyed the cake but saw nothing wrong with it. The twins were still carving slices of cake and handing it round. Nobody seemed to be having ill effects from it, so he took a bite. "It’s good!" He’d no sooner said that than he started itching in places he knew better than to scratch in public. Oh no. Something’s very wrong here. He looked at the hair on his knuckles, then shoved a sleeve up. The dark hair on his arms was still simply dark hair, not feathers. He ran a hand over his hair, which still felt like hair. No red feathers for him, then, not like what they did to Ron, but what was this creepy, itchy feeling coming over him? His skin was crawling! Finally, he couldn’t stand it anymore and started scratching his chest.

All innocence, Fred said, "Something wrong, Harry?"

"You’re not allergic to frosting, are you, mate?" George did his best to look innocent as well, but the gleam in his eye gave him away.

"What did you do to me?" Harry said, giving up all pretence now and scratching his chest, arms and back like mad. His groin was nearly painful now. He was afraid to even think about scratching down there.

"Us? Nothing! You must have an allergy or something," Fred said, acting a bit worried now, but still smiling.

"What did you do?" Ron demanded. "If you hurt him, Ginny will hex your bits off!" His brothers were too interested in watching Harry’s transformation to answer him. Ron stood in front of Harry and stared at him. "What’s going on, mate? Feathers? Did you try a Finite?"

Harry was sure he must be bleeding in several places now, he was scratching so hard. "YES! It didn’t work!" With a growl, he ripped his shirt off and stood there staring aghast at the scales covering his chest, back and now running down his arms to his hands as well as moving up his neck. "What is this?"

"You’re an iguana, Harry," George said, trying to stifle his giggles.

There was a mirror behind Fred. Harry stepped around him and gasped when he saw the green and yellow scales now covering nearly every square inch of his body were now moving over his face. He froze in horror when he saw his eyes turn yellow and scales rapidly cover his hair, face, even his eyebrows. The face in the mirror was like a bizarre reflection of Nagini now. Shaking with horror, Harry screamed and fell to the floor, his hands over his eyes.

* * * * *

"Reverse the spell!" Ron cried, bending over Harry. "Can’t you see it’s hurting him?"

"It doesn’t hurt, it just itches a bit," George said, frowning a bit now. "We’ve done it to ourselves."

"Stop it!" Ron grasped Harry’s shoulders and stared into the yellow eyes with slits for pupils. "It’s just a prank, Harry. You’ll be fine." When Harry didn’t respond, Ron stood up and glared at his brothers. "Get them off him now! Can’t you see that he looks like You-Know-Who’s snake? You’re driving him mad!"

Both Fred and George gasped. "We never meant—" George began as Fred did a complicated incantation that resulted in the scales fading instantly from Harry’s skin.

Ron knelt by Harry’s side. "It’s OK now, Harry. The scales are gone. You’re back to normal. C’mon, stand up and I’ll show you in the mirror."

* * * * *

Harry lay panting on the floor, curled in a tight ball, completely unaware of his surroundings. His mind was filled with nightmare images of Nagini, but even worse, with images of himself inside Nagini when he attacked Arthur Weasley in the Department of Mysteries. He wouldn’t attack again, no, he wouldn’t, he couldn’t! He felt something wrap tightly around him, but didn’t know what it was. He fought the restraint at first, then became grateful for it. Perhaps it would keep him from attacking someone.

Harry heard someone calling his name, as if at a great distance. He turned his head toward the sound and listened hard, concentrating on following that voice out of the void of terror in which he was trapped.

"C’mon, Harry, everything’s OK now," Ron said. He was holding Harry in a tight embrace now, trying to calm his friend as well as keeping Harry from hurting himself. "Harry! Come on! You’re fine!"

Finally able to focus his eyes, he saw Ron’s face just a few inches from his. "Ron?"

Ron relaxed his grip a little and helped Harry sit up. "Welcome back!"

Harry shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He felt dizzy somehow. "What happened?"

"Fred and George played a prank on you that went badly," Ron said. "How do you feel?"

"A prank?" Harry shook his head again, trying to clear it of the horrifying memories still flashing before his eyes.

"Yeah, the great prats. I told them Ginny would hex their bits off, if you don’t do it first. Or I’ll do it for you, if you want." Ron scowled. "They deserve it."

"Harry, we didn’t realize—" George began, his face pale and anxious.

"We would never try to hurt you, mate," Fred said, looking equally worried.

Neville knelt beside Harry and peered into his eyes. "How do you feel? I don’t have any potions with me, but I can probably get something if you need it. I’ve learned more healing spells and potions since I’ve been on the research ship."

Harry swallowed hard, then shook his head. His hands were still shaking and the remnants of his terror still haunted the corners of his mind, but he was calming down little by little. "I’m . . . I’m fine, Neville, thanks. Really, I’m fine. Where’s my shirt?" He accepted Ron’s and Neville’s help in getting to his feet, then looked at Charlie in confusion but accepted the rag Charlie handed him. He stared at the shredded cloth in his hand, his mind still too numb to process what he was seeing. "What . . . is this my shirt? What happened to it? This was one of my favourites."

"You ripped it off yourself, mate," Ron said quietly. He told Harry what had happened.

Harry looked at the twins. "You thought it would be funny to turn me into an iguana?"

The twins shrugged. "We’ve done the bird thing several different ways, y’know, with Ron and the Canary Creams and so on," Fred explained. "We were trying something different."

"You never told them, did you?" Ron murmured in a low voice.

Harry looked at his best friend and shuddered at the memory. No, Harry had never told anyone but those who’d first heard it about him not seeing Nagini attack Arthur Weasley in the Department of Mysteries, but that he, Harry, had been Nagini then. So the twins had no idea what a horror their prank had brought to his mind. He didn’t want to tell them now, either.

Ron watched Harry for a moment longer to be certain he wasn’t going to become lost in another horror-filled vision, then hissed to his brothers, "Don’t you remember that dream he had Fifth Year?"

Both twins blanched. "We didn’t think about that. We just thought it would be a bit of a laugh," George said.

"We’re sorry, Harry," Fred said, gingerly patting Harry’s arm.

"Yeah, we didn’t mean to remind you of, well, you know," George added.

"It’s OK," Harry said after a long moment. "Just don’t pull that kind of thing on me again, all right?"

"No more lizards for us, mate!" Fred vowed, holding his right hand aloft.

"Nor anything else with scales!" George agreed.

Harry forced himself to smile a bit. "It was a great transfiguration, though. How’d you do it?"

Fred and George began the explanation, warming to their subject when they saw that Harry wasn’t angry with them. What they didn’t know was that it was taking all of Harry’s willpower to keep the smile on his face and to act interested.

"So it was in the frosting around the purple flower?" Harry said after a bit. "It didn’t taste odd at all."

"That’s the genius of it!" Fred said. "We’ve discovered a carrier potion that makes the joke potion taste like whatever it’s served in, or on. If we’d put it on a steak and kidney pie, and just made certain you got the right piece, you would never have known you’d been pranked until the transfiguration started."

"That’s brilliant." And scary. Harry would be careful about whatever he ate around the twins from now on, although after tonight’s experience, he doubted they’d ever try to prank him that way again.

Harry’s friends gave him some joke gifts: thong underwear—for Harry, not Ginny—with a lovely pink flower on the front; a purple spangled tutu which nobody could explain; a bottle of potion guaranteed to make Ginny mad for him. He laughed when he opened it. At least there’s no need for that. Then there were the more useful, practical or at least enjoyable gifts: Dan Jacobs gave Harry a pre-release copy of his next album, the one for which Harry had written a glowing review, already published in the Daily Prophet. Neville gave Harry a book on medicinal potions used in Greece. Ron gave Harry a written promise to make certain Harry survived his wedding without getting drunk or being pranked by the twins. The twins’ present was a promissory note for a fireworks display the evening of the wedding. Trent’s gift was him doing the wedding photography for free.

Harry was shocked by the value of this present. Trent’s fees weren’t inexpensive and his work was truly phenomenal. "Trent, this is huge. Are you certain?"

Trent nearly vibrated with glee at Harry’s response to his gift. "Yes, I am, and I guarantee no one will receive copies of those photos, Harry. You’ll even get the negatives if you want. You said you want no press at your wedding, and I respect that. They won’t get any photos from me!"

All in all, Harry thought, it was a stag party to remember even if there weren’t any naked dancing girls. He looked at the purple spangled tutu and wondered how Ginny would look in that—and nothing else. He chuckled and stuffed it into his bag along with the other gifts. At the very least, he and Ginny would get a laugh out of it. And thanks to his grandfather saying he could stay in his quarters, he’d be seeing her soon. He couldn’t wait.