The annoying thing about late February, to Ron, wasn't just that it signaled the hardest stretch of time in his year. March to June was pretty much a nonstop series of annoyingly emotional events: his birthday, March 15th, April 1st (the twins' birthday, which almost inevitably led to someone in the Weasley clan at St. Mungo's), May 2nd…at some point in mid-May, Ron would be able to breathe again.

But it was much easier to direct his late-February ire at the easiest target. The press. After the war, there were points where the Prophet hounded Harry (and by extension, Ron and Hermione) incessantly. The fact that Harry chose to go to the Quibbler with his post-war tell-all seemed to make the prophet more aggressive, assigning photographers and writers specifically to Harry. At one point, Rita Skeeter was caught trying to break into auror training. And since Harry insisted on the three of them were a unit, that meant that Ron and Hermione were also pursued incessantly after the war.

Ron did not appreciate this.

During that first year, after a particularly annoying visit to Hogsmeade, Ron may or may not have turned Rita Skeeter's quill into a canary. Hermione may or may not have been impressed, and Ginny may or may not have snuck up behind Rita and turned her bogies into bats. Harry may or may not have stupefied the photographer who was trying to capture the whole thing. Luna had definitely wandered by and offered the photographer a job at the Quibbler. He declined.

During the ensuing trial (covered, of course, by the Quibbler; Luna had even been excused from school to sit in the courtroom), an agreement was reached: the press would leave the three (four, if you counted Ginny, which Rita Skeeter did not) alone, and Ron and his friends promised not to use any hex, curse, or malicious transfiguration. They also agreed that, 3 times a year, they would allow themselves to be interviewed and photographed by the Prophet.

To annoy the Prophet as much as possible, the trio frequently invited the Quibbler to join in the interview.

And, in Late February, June and October, the Prophet would Owl Harry and set up a "photo op" and interview. And Harry would Owl Hermione and Ron, and drag Ginny with, and the four would somewhat cooperatively participate. This particular year, the Prophet had been annoying Harry (and, well, everyone), so the friends set up their meeting at the Hogshead. And called the Quibbler to join in.

There were few things about this meeting that Ron enjoyed, but watching Rita Skeeter wade amongst the dingy tables made the day a bit easier. The way she wrinkled her nose at the smell of goats helped a bit, too. Aberforth winked from across the bar as a large group of questionable-looking wizards loudly clamored through the door shortly after Skeeter arrived.

"Well, then, Potter, let's get this over with quickly," Rita began, sitting gingerly at the table. "We couldn't possibly spare a photographer today, but I've got my own camera, and I'd love to get some shots of you and your friends greeting some of your admirers!"

The streets were grey, slushy, and very, very empty. The grumbling and somewhat drunk witches and wizards in the tavern were not exactly photo-op ready.

"Let's not leave my wife out of it this time," Harry added. Hermione held her wand atop the table, fingering it, while making somewhat aggressive eye contact with the reporter. Ginny smiled.

Rita continued, "yes, well, as I always say, happy marriages don't sell papers!" Ginny's smile became more forced. Rita leaned in, more, looking only at Harry. "You are happy…right?" Her tone suggested that she wanted him to say no.

Hermione broke in. "As per our previous Owl, the interview won't begin until the Quibbler is represented as well."

Ms. Skeeter harrumphed and jotted a few words in her notebook. Ron peeked to be sure it wasn't one of those Quick Quotes Quills. He spotted the words "hag-like" and "in need of a conditioning rinse." Hermione kept fidgeting with her wand, and she and Ginny glared at Rita. The meeting was going in a delightful direction.

The tension seemed to melt away (for Ron, at least) when Luna breezed through the door. She ran first to Aberforth, and greeted him with a hug, inquiring about his goats. His blue eyes lit up in a way Ron hadn't seen before. Rita stared in something resembling confusion, admiration, and probably horror.

Luna perched herself beside Rita at the table and pulled out her own notebook and quills. Her hair was styled in the same slicked-back manner of Rita's, and she wore a pair of false hornrimmed glasses. Even her skirt was the same style as Rita's. If Ron hadn't known her so well, he would have missed the subtle imitation. Rita's face suggested that she did not miss it.

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, and Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Luna began. Usually Nancy, Luna's editor, handled these meetings, but Luna insisted that she wanted to take a more active role in these interviews. Luna had also insisted that she'd be 100% professional. The last thing any of them needed was a Quick-Quotes-inspired article about Ron and Luna.

"Good afternoon, Miss Lovegood," the friends chorused.

"So to start," Rita budged in, "I previously understood that Luna was a great friend to Mr. Potter and his comrades. So why the icy greeting? Are there differences of opinion over the Quibbler's content? Or perhaps a political disagreement? Or possibly," her eyes sparkled black, "has Miss Lovegood found herself too good a friend of The Chosen One? Caused a rift in the marriage?"

Ginny's face became serious. "Yes. Of course. My husband cheated on me with my best friend. That's why we invited her to conduct an interview."

Rita's eyes widened with excitement. "Oh, do tell more! How has this affected your marriage? Are divorce papers in our future? Will Mr. Potter once again become the Wizarding World's most eligible bachelor?"

"You really are one of the dullest people I've had the unfortunate opportunity to meet," muttered Hermione.

"I'm sorry?" asked Rita.

"They're having you on, dear," said Luna, sugary sweet. "I'm not sleeping with Harry. Ginny was making a joke. It wasn't very funny, but perhaps it made her feel better about constantly answering questions about her marriage."

Rita looked as if she'd bitten into a lemon. "So all is well in the Potter marriage?" Harry and Ginny nodded. Rita began scribbling in her notebook, paging through pre-prepared questions and sighing dramatically every few moments. Luna doodled in her notepad, sketching pictures of kneazles and werewolves.

"Oh!" said Rita, flipping the pages. "Since we don't have Harry as an eligible bachelor then, of course, we must turn elsewhere." Ron closed his eyes in annoyance, waiting for her to question him. Instead, she continued, "Harry, who do you believe is the most desireable bachelor in Magical Britain? Neville Longbottom? Theodore Nott, heir of the Nott fortune? Oliver Wood?"

The prepared answer left Ron's lips before he really heard the question. "I'm choosing to keep my private life to—" then it registered. "Oliver Wood?"

"Well, yes. He's by far the most attractive Quidditch player around…oh, dear…" Rita looked over the top of her glasses in mock-concern. "I supposed you felt you were in the running. Sorry, dear, red hair is far out of fashion in recent years." She glanced at Ginny out of the side of her eye and flinched a bit. "For men, of course, that is. Now, if this were your brother William we were discussing…"

"If the Quibbler chooses to stoop to simple gossip tactics, Ronald will be on our list," interrupted Luna, as she gazed up at the ceiling. "And Neville."

Rita's lip curled a bit in disgust. "Of course he would. But this is a perfect moment to discuss the relationship between Mr. Weasley, and Miss Granger. Have the two of you rekindled old flames and relationships?"

"Unconfirmed rumors of old flames and relationships," Hermione supplied.

"Not rekindled rumors," added Ron, resisting the urge to pout. How could those three be above him?

"So then, if the romance between the Chosen One's best friends is theoretical and unrekindled, what shall I say about their love lives? Any big news from either of you? Wedding bells in the future? It's my understanding that Miss Granger has been seen frequently in the company of Auror Finnegan-"

Hermione snorted.

"-And Mr. Weasley is often seen conversing in his shop with a rotund dark-skinned witch…Angela? I believe?"

"That's my brother's wife, Angelina Weasley. She co-owns the store."

"And she's six months pregnant, not rotund," added Ginny.

"So the rumor that you're seeing her secretly, and may be the father of her child is…?"

"Utter bollucks," replied Ron, with an eye roll. This was the worst interview yet.

Rita, unperturbed, wrote 'unconfirmed but likely' in her notebook and turned to Hermione. "And you and Mr. Finnegan are?"

"People who eat lunch together, with Harry present."

She jotted the words, 'possible love triangle?" on the parchment. As she paged through the rest of the book, Luna surreptitiously waved her wand and changed the words to nonsense. Ron gave her a grateful glance. Rita didn't notice.

"Since the three of you insist on being so uncooperative, I must ask, what do you want me to write about?"

"How about an article on my work on werewolf rights, and how equal rights could grow the economy for all of Magical Britain?" asked Hermione.

Harry added, "or the need for a better training program before future aurors graduate Hogwarts? I will be the new Director of auror Training in April, and our recruits are woefully underprepared."

"Weasley's is offering a new line of curse-detecting tools and self-defense manuals. They're more suited to everyday witches and wizards who live alone, rather than the war-based items we previously offered," said Ron, reciting Angelina's marketing scheme. He mentally patted himself on the back for following directions.

Ginny glared at Rita as she said, "you should write on the Muggleborn equality project. All four of us are on the advisory board, and it's meant to educate young witches and wizards on the Muggle world. The Harpies are joining a publicity campaign meant to bridge the gaps that many people see during their first year at Hogwarts."

Luna wrote furiously in her notebook.

"Well then," said Rita with a huff, "if none of you have anything interesting or meaningful to add, and nothing that my readers would be interested in, Miss Lovegood and I will be on our way. Please follow me to the street so I can snap a few pictures of you greeting your fans. Mrs. Potter can stay here."

She rose from the table and strode out of the pub, the door slamming behind her. As the dust settled, the five friends remained at the table, looking amongst themselves. Around 30 seconds later (Luna had been humming a nursery rhyme under her breath and occasionally counting), the door swung open again.

"Are you—" but Rita was cut off as the rowdy group of Aberforth's friends began a drinking song, splashing her with their drinks.

She came closer and had to yell to be heard, "I HAVE MY CAMERA, IT'S TOO DARK IN HERE, JUST A FEW PICTURES—" The crowd seemed to box her in more.

Harry shook his head as if he couldn't hear her, shrugged, pointing to the door. Luna began swaying and humming along to the drinking song. With a huff, Rita left, slamming the door behind her again.

The crowd quieted down quickly after that, and began filing out one by one. The pub was soon empty, and Ron and his friends sipped their (somewhat questionable) drinks in relative peace. "Could have been worse," Harry mentioned.

Ron added, "no one hexed her this time, so we won't be back in court. I reckon that's a plus."

"So, Luna," said Ginny, "what's the Quibbler going to report?"

"The Kneazle situation has hit a dead end, so until I go to Ireland to investigate in person, we're relying on Daddy's information about Banshees in Portugal."

"And about Harry?"

"Oh, nothing, really. I just came to annoy Rita Skeeter. She called Daddy a nutjob last month, and the Prophet poached one of our reporters. Unless you want us to report on the auror training. That sounds interesting. It might actually be due to nargles at Hogwarts, stealing people's motivation to succeed."

Hermione broke in, "actually, if you really want to annoy her, you have several scoops that she'd love to have…Ginny's pregnancy…you and Ron…Neville's wedding…"

"Those aren't my stories to tell. And I can't write about myself. 'Pride goeth before a pack of rabid centaurs', as the saying goes."

"If it will annoy Skeeter, it's fine with me," said Ginny. "It's going to be obvious soon, anyway. I'd rather you wrote about the baby than her."

Luna brightened up at that. "Really? I'd love to write about the Potter baby! What if we wait for Rita to publish her superficial story, then follow up with your announcement a few days later? That would give us time to talk about the details!"

Ron thought for a moment. "If you really want to annoy her, maybe Nancy can write about you and I? I mean, the Prophet'll figure it out soon enough. You'll be at the May celebrations, and Neville's wedding." Ron shuddered thinking of how the Prophet would approach that bit of news.

Luna thought for a minute. "What about Ginny?"

"Ginny?" asked Harry.

"She could write about Ron and I. We could use another reporter, and she needs something to occupy her mind, anyway."

Everyone looked at Ginny. She shrugged. "I guess so? Can I also write about Neville and Hannah's wedding?"

"Perfect! Hermione, would you like us to write anything about you?"

A smile played at the corner of Hermione's mouth. "Thanks for offering, Luna. Unless you'd like to cover werewolf rights, I'd prefer not to."

"I'll consider it. It seems like a worthy cause."

Ginny broke in, "I'll do it. I think it would be good to spread the word about your project, and I really don't have very much to do without training…I'm going stir crazy."

The girls put their heads together, brainstorming different stories that Ginny could cover. Finishing his pint, Ron looked at Harry, who was staring off into space.

"We still hanging at Grimmauld on the 15th?"

Harry nodded back. It wasn't Ron's favorite thing to plan, but it was tradition. After whatever disaster their February Prophet interview brought, they'd reconfirm their plans for March.

"I'll bring the Firewhiskey and we'll make Hermione bring the Muggle stuff. You wanna get Kreacher over there?"

"Part of me thinks he enjoys the break from Hogwarts, so I think he'll agree."

"Or he likes seeing us drunk." Ron thought about what else they might need. "I bet you 2 galleons Hermione throws a fit this year. We're 2 for 3. She might be mellowing out about the house elves."

Hermione must have heard her name over the din. "I might be what?"

"Calming down about the Kreacher situation on the 15th?" Ron asked hopefully.

With a sigh, Hermione said, "whatever works. It's just one day, and he seems to enjoy it. And it's much easier than all of us arguing in the kitchen, half hungover. But we will pay him somehow. If he won't accept money, surely he'll accept some of those Black family heirlooms Harry found, or a new pillowcase."

"Whatever makes you happy, as long as you bring the Muggle stuff you brought last year," replied Ron.

"Wait, am I going to be the only sober one? This isn't fair! Pregnancy sucks enough…I don't want to have to sit around sober and watch you three get pissed." Ginny appeared to be falling into one of her 'moods,' and Ron barely kept himself from rolling his eyes. This was going to complicate matters.

"Go stay with mum then. Kreacher'll keep us alive."

Hermione reminded him, "that's not Kreacher's job, Ron!"

"Fine, then you'll keep us alive with the nagging." He knew once it left his mouth that he'd gone too far. Hermione's eyebrows narrowed and Ginny's shot up. Ron braced himself for the coming lecture/further nagging from both. They'd start with the house-elves (well, Hermione would), but knowing them it would probably extend to Ron's drinking, possibly his life choices, and they would definitely mention that time he ended up in a field by Hogsmeade. They'd probably end with a general lecture about his treatment of women, and with any luck, Luna would join in—

"I can come keep Ginny company if she'd like…" Luna said, as if she hadn't heard half the conversation.

There was a pause, as if Ginny and Hermione were contemplating whether to begin lecturing him, or follow Luna's train of thought.

"She was there…back…at Malfoy manner…" muttered Harry, trying to push them in Luna's direction.

Hermione took a deep breath and turned to Luna. "Well then…she was, actually. Yes, Luna, you're welcome to join us on the 15th."