A/N: The last one guys, as this is the last chapter of The Sweetest Thing. I want to thank those of you who have taken the time to review my story as it means a lot to me. It's why I write, to get feedback from others and I thrive on that feedback, so thankyou, once again, you've all made my day. To those of you who have been reading and not reviewing, shame on you. Not just to me, but to other authors out there. There's nothing better than opening up your inbox to find reviews from people telling you what they think of your work. That said, take the time to review the stories you read. It may seem insignificant to you, but rest assured, the author will thank you for it, even if they don't come out and say that they appreciated your thoughts.
That said, Enjoy.
The Sweetest Thing
Chapter 9
The minutes ticked by slowly once Harry, Ron and Ginny had arrived back at Honeydukes. Ginny spent her time pacing around the shop, pulling tightly at the arms on the replica Harry doll – which she'd rescued from the rubbish bin as they headed back to the sweetshop. Harry had frowned at this, and Ginny merely shrugged, claiming stress relief as she poked at it and prodded it. Harry wasn't sure whether to be offended that she was using a replica of him to distress herself, or to be humbled that he could relieve her of stress. He thought he ought to be offended.
"Oh where is she?" Ginny asked for the fifth time in the time space of ten minutes. Harry shrugged at her, feeling useless as he couldn't provide an answer.
Ron was pacing back and forth in front of a display of Sugar Quills, one sticking out from between his teeth. "She should be back by now, right?" he asked Harry who shrugged restlessly.
"I'd have thought so, but I'm sure she'll be back really soon," he said, adding the last bit for Ginny's benefit. She was sitting on a small stool now, Harry doll sitting in her lap. She looked beyond worried.
"What if she just…ran off to the loo or something?" Ginny asked, all rationale gone.
"She's been gone an hour, Ginny. I know you girls take a long time in the bathroom, but no one takes an hour," Ron said, giving his sister an odd look.
They lapsed back into silence, looking around the now deserted shop. Harry checked his watch; it was nearing eight fifteen. The Malfoy's would be along soon, he hoped Hermione beat them there, with an explanation as to why she'd run off like she had. It didn't look good though, all the people outside the shop windows were hurrying past on their way to shops either side, none of them sparing a particular care for the shop that once held the interest of every passer-by. Word had spread that the shop was closing and those who were sweet tooths had already stocked up on all the sweets they wanted.
All three teenagers looked up as the bells above the shop jingled, expecting to see Hermione, but were met with the sight of Luna who looked quite happy – a stark contrast to the others in the shop.
"There you all are. I got distracted with Neville and when I went to find you again, you'd gone." She said, walking through the shop to stand next to Ginny. "Hello, Ginny," she said, enveloping her friend in a sudden hug. Ginny hugged back, slightly surprised, but it was obvious to see she had other things on her mind.
"Hey Luna, how are you,"
"I'm quite well, as I told you in my last letter. Has the signing over of the shop happened yet?" she asked bluntly, looking around at all the long faces.
"No," Ginny said frowning, "Soon,"
"Right. Where's Hermione? I thought she'd be here for this,"
"She's run off somewhere, we're waiting for her to come back," Ron said, handing Luna a Sugar Quill. She took it and popped it in her mouth with no further comment.
The door opened again, but this time instead of it being a friend entering, it was in fact, a foe.
"Well, well well, it's this cozy?" Draco Malfoy asked, standing on the threshold of the shop, looking around at the shop's occupants, a large smirk on his face. Ginny decided he looked far too happy for the events that were about to unfold.
"Shove it Malfoy," Ginny said, watching as he walked around the shop as though he already owned it.
"Good evening Mr. Malfoy," Mr. Honeyduke said, trying to sound somewhat welcoming, but failing and sounding more afraid of Malfoy than his old House-Elf Dobby had.
Ginny stood her ground; she wasn't about to let Malfoy believe he scared everyone he met. He knew it too, he sneered at her as she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring solely at him.
"Calm down, Weasley, I haven't even done anything yet," he said, smoothing down his robes.
"Done anything? Done anything? You're prepared to buy out a business from one of the most loving couples I know, and ruin their lives. They live for this shop Draco, it isn't just their shop, they take pride in what they do,"
"That's a heart wrenching story and all, but I don't have time for stories of the little people. Mother and I are purchasing this shop because we own most of Hogsmeade now – we're merely adding to our collection."
"I loathe you," Ginny said, her eyes narrowing further.
"Duly noted, but I really don't care,"
"Do you have a heart at all?" Ginny asked, sounding somewhat hysterical now.
Draco merely stared at her, and shaking his head, produced a scroll of parchment. "Mr. Honeyduke, if you'd sign this, then we can be on our way out of here. Please, do hurry," Draco said as he slapped the scroll down on the counter and proceeded to walk around the shop, looking disdainfully down at the displays Ginny had painstakingly set up to advertise the sweet shop's finest.
"Once this shop is demolished, Malfoy Inn shall be built upon it. One of the finest Wizard dwellings in Britain."
"An Inn? A Malfoy Inn? No one will want to stay in something that's got your name plastered all over it," Ginny said, sneering at him.
"No one of your caliber, no. Only purebloods will be allowed admittance," Draco said, lifting his nose into the air.
"Oh! If your head was stuck any further up your –"
"Ginny, dear!"
"—you-know-where, you wouldn't be able to walk straight,"
"Tell me Potter, do her annoying diatribes irritate you as much as they irritate me?"
"You shut up talking about my sister like that," Ron said, advancing on Malfoy for the first time since his entering the shop.
"Oh, so two of the many Weasels are here tonight. I didn't even see you, standing over there like a wall flower. Why couldn't you have stayed there?" he asked, looking at Ron with a foul look upon his face.
"If anyone's – what did you call them? - Diatribes are irritating Malfoy, yours are." Harry said, standing up, his fingers inching towards his wand. Malfoy noticed.
"It's so…sad the way you all jump to each others defense when one of you is threatened," Draco said as he too reached for his wand just as Harry was doing.
Mrs. Honeyduke was standing beside her husband as his eyes flicked back and forth across the parchment, reading the terms and conditions of signing their shop over to the Malfoy's.
Narcissa stood by the back wall, watching all the proceedings with an unreadable expression upon her face. Though she looked ready and able to enter into anything dangerous that might involve her son.
"It's all in there. Everything you've agreed to. There's no nasty little surprises," Draco said, strolling casually back to the counter.
"Of – of course. We wouldn't expect there to be," Mr. Honeyduke said, a strained smile upon his face.
"We have to wait for Hermione, Mr. Honeyduke, please," Ginny said, stepping up to her boss and resting a comforting hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry, Ginny. We can't wait any longer. We can't keep the Malfoys' waiting,"
"Hear that Weasel? I'd appreciate it if you didn't keep me waiting,"
Ginny glared at him then bit her lip, looking back out towards the rest of the fair, hoping for a glance of Hermione, but to no avail. The street was so busy it was impossible to determine one person from the next. Ginny turned back to face Mr. Honeyduke; tears stinging her eyes.
His Quill was poised above the parchment contract when the door of the shop burst open, banging loudly against the wall.
"Stop! Mr. Honeyduke, do not sign that contract!"
Hermione stood in the doorway, her hair wild about her shoulders as though she'd just run a long way. She looked rather impressive standing silhouetted in the doorway. All heads in the room swiveled to look at her.
"Unless you have some very good news Hermione, I'm afraid I must." He dipped the Quill in the inkbottle on the counter and stood poised with it above the parchment.
"Oh but I do," she said, bent over slightly, trying to catch her breath. "Honeydukes is Heritage Listed,"
All the eyes in the shop swiveled to stare at Hermione, Ron's mouth even hung open. "You can buy it," she said, giving Malfoy and his mother a rather superior look. "I don't know what you have instore for this lovely building, but you cannot change anything about it. It's on the Ministry's list of Heritage buildings."
Ginny ran at Hermione and enveloped her in a large hug, muttering something sounding like "Thankyou, thankyou!" over and over. Hermione laughed, hugging Ginny back. "He wants to turn it into, wait for it, "Malfoy Inn."
Hermione smirked. "Not in this lifetime, I'm afraid. You can't make any differences to the building,"
"I'm sure you're mistaken," Malfoy said, striding forward and snatching up the piece of parchment in her hand, reading it, his eyes flicking back and forth over the parchment, his face reddening more and more the further he read on.
"I believe it is you who is mistaken, Draco," Ginny said, barely able to contain her excitement as she stood next to Hermione.
"I—"
"Get out, Malfoy," Ron said, stepping up behind Hermione and Ginny and placing a hand on both of their shoulders.
"You can't tell me what to do!" He cried indignantly, turning to face his mother. She too stepped forward and spoke so quietly a hush fell over the room.
"Come now Draco, we needn't be in these people's company any longer,"
"But mother, I—"
"Come, Draco,"
"Just because we can't knock this pile of rubble even further into the ground, doesn't mean you get to stay happy, Weasley. The Honeydukes still have to sell, even if it isn't to me. As long as you're miserable, that's enough for me," Draco sneered right in Ginny's face and watched happily as his words sunk in and her smile fell from her face.
He left the shop in a swirl of robes, following his mother.
The remaining people in the shop burst into excited chatter, most of it centering around Hermione.
"How'd you find out about that?" Harry asked her, clapping her appreciatively on the back. Hermione blushed.
"Well, it was Ron, really, making his comment about 'old buildings'. I just knew there had to be something within the Ministry to protect these kinds of buildings. They're held up by magic and protected by it too. A strong protective spell runs through these buildings and makes it illegal to change their appearance in anyway. I didn't think Draco was likely to want to keep the building as is, so that was my only hope of thwarting his plans,"
"Thwarting indeed," Ginny said, spinning around the shop, her happiness evident on her features. "It's almost too good to be true," she said, laughing.
Mr. and Mrs. Honeyduke stood side by side, smiling grimly. "It is Ginny; don't you remember what young Mr. Malfoy said? We still can't afford to keep the shop; we're still going to sell,"
"Oh but, isn't there some way you could--?" he shook his head.
"No, I'm afraid not. Unless some Magical miracle comes along in the next day, we're surrendering the shop over to the Ministry," Mrs. Honeyduke said, closing Ginny in a hug tight against her chest.
"It's just not fair," she said, sounding suspiciously like she might be sniffling.
Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged sad glances, feeling sorry for Ginny. "Ginny, do…do you want to come back out with us and celebrate the fact that Malfoy lost?" Hermione asked tentively, afraid Ginny would snap at her.
She sniffed. "Sure, alright. Nothing more to be done here, right?" she said, not waiting for an answer and pushed open the door of the shop with a little more force than was necessary.
Hermione smiled sympathetically at the Honeydukes before she, Harry and Ron followed Ginny out of the shop and down the street.
"That went well," Ron said five minutes later in an undertone to Hermione who sighed.
"I thought it might have cheered her up a little," she said, walking alongside him, their hands joined.
"She's being ungrateful. It must have taken a bit of persuasion to get anyone to give you that information at this time of night," Ron said, looking down at her as she nodded.
"There was a young assistant who was only too happy to help. Of course, it took me half an hour before I came across him. Everyone else was most unhelpful."
"I'll bet. You did a really nice thing, Hermione; Ginny doesn't deserve you as a friend half the time,"
"Oh yes she does, she's just upset is all. It's to be expected. Though I do wish she hadn't gotten her hopes up so much, poor thing," she said as Ron nodded beside her.
Ahead of them Harry and Ginny were walking together, Harry his hands in his pockets, Ginny hers swinging loosely at her sides. She was looking around at the buildings with a soft smile upon her face, feeling slightly placated by the fact that Malfoy wouldn't be the one to ruin the Honeydukes lives. Harry looked at her out of the corner of his eye, relieved to see a smile upon her face even if it didn't fully reach her eyes.
"You…ah want to take a ride on the Big Wheel with me?" Harry asked her, casting his gaze skywards at the now brightly lit fairground ride. Ginny followed his gaze.
"Maybe later, Harry, I just don't really feel like it right now," she said, offering him an apologetic smile. He nodded in response.
Just then had they chosen to speak further to one another, their conversation would have been drowned out. Someone had apparently cast 'Sonorus' and was yelling to get everyone's attention at the foot of the Big Wheel. Once Ron and Hermione caught up with them, they made their way over and discovered a make-shift stage had been set up and Rufus Scrimgeour was standing behind a wooden podium, looking thoroughly out of place.
"May I please have your attention? No, Jenkins, I haven't seen your cat," here he cleared his throat. "It has come to be that time of the night, yes that time," he said as several witches standing at the front of the podium gasped. "That time you've all been waiting for –"
"Bit full of himself isn't he?" Ron whispered to Hermione who trod on his foot to quiet him. "Now really! That wasn't necessary," he said, hobbling on one foot.
"The village of Hogsmeade has come to the conclusion that one of it's finest shops has been struggling of late and wracked their brains on what they could possibly do to help, and remained unsure of how to help, until preparations for the Fair began."
Ginny who had been feigning interest until Harry nudged her, suddenly stood on her tip-toes; hanging on Scrimgeour's every word. "Did he just say--?" she asked, hoping she wasn't hearing things. She placed one hand on both Harry and Ron's shoulders, and jumped, hoping to gain some sort of height advantage, until Ron, rolling his eyes, hefted her slight frame up and onto his shoulders, where she had a clear view of the stage. Laughing, she ruffled Ron's hair appreciatively. "Thanks, now shush," she said to him, even though he hadn't said a word.
Scrimgeour continued, talking for far longer than he needed too, in Ginny's opinion. She just wanted him to get on with it. "Without our further ado, I'd like to invite Marvin and Anna Honeyduke up here with me. Marvin, Anna? Can you hear me?"
Ginny looked around wildly, searching for the familiar faces and saw them a few rows behind her. Quite a crowd had gathered behind them. She whistled loudly, catching their attention and giving them an exaggerated thumbs up. Anna's hands were at her mouth, her eyes wide with shock. It had to mean something good, surely.
Marvin and Anna climbed the temporary stairs and stood either side of the Minister, looking out to the crowd, smiling nervously. Madam Rosmerta suddenly appeared next to Anna and seemed to be holding a large commemorative plaque.
"We, the shop owners of Hogsmeade would like to offer you the complete takings from tonight's fair, under the condition that you do not sell your shop, and that you stay here in Hogsmeade with us, for many years to come," Rosmerta held out the plaque to Marvin and Anna promptly burst into loud, carrying tears. Rosmerta stepped forward and pulled the older woman into a hug, laughing gently.
It was Ginny, however, who had the most memorable reaction. She scrambled down from Ron's shoulders, and took it upon herself to run up the stairs and hurtle herself at her two newest favourite people. They laughed and hugged her back, showing her the plaque. She grinned.
"I suppose this is that Magical Miracle you were talking about earlier?" she asked, tears of happiness flowing down her cheeks. "Oh this is brilliant!" she said, laughing giddily.
"If I didn't know better Ginny, I'd almost say you are happier than we are,"
"Aren't you happy?" she asked, her face falling.
"Of course, we just don't have the energy of a fifteen year old girl to be celebrating with."
Ginny grinned at them. "So now you can keep the shop open!"
"Only if you'll continue to work with us," Anna said, wiping the still falling tears from her cheeks.
"You know I will," Ginny said, laughing with relief.
"Now, go, have fun with your friends. Scoot,"
"I'm already gone!" she said, jumping down from the front of the stage, into the dispersing crowd.
She easily found Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were standing there and looking far more wonderful than they had in a long time. She enveloped Hermione in a hug and thanked her properly for going to the trouble of stopping Draco Malfoy from buying the Honeyduke's pride and joy. She started towards Ron to hug him and thought better of it, jumping up to mess up his hair again instead. He made a face at her and tugged on her hair to get even, or so he said. She turned toward Harry and grinned, a real genuine grin. Something he hadn't seen on her face for a very long time.
"How about that ride on the Big Wheel, Harry?" she asked, taking his hand and dragging him toward the ride anyway. He looked back at Ron and Hermione who grinned at him. Hermione clasped her hands together and smiled. Harry rolled his eyes and stumbled after Ginny.
Minutes later they found them sitting in one of the carriages. "Life is so wonderful, isn't it Harry?" she asked, her grin still in place; it didn't look like it was ever going to leave her face any time soon.
He laughed. He enjoyed seeing her happy like this. She was herself again. He'd wondered if she'd ever get back to being the happy-go-lucky person she really was. Thankfully she had and her grin was infectious. "Right now, I'd say it was pretty wonderful, sure,"
They rode in silence for a few minutes, enjoying one another's company. "It feels like things are coming to a close. This summer's gone so quickly, hasn't it I wish it wasn't over. I feel like I've hardly spent any time with you," she said, mildly thinking how at the beginning of the summer she wanted to stay as far away from Harry as she could manage.
"Well you've had other things on your mind," he said shrugging, swinging the carriage of the ride slightly.
"Yes, but that's no excuse to have shut you out like I have. I'm sorry," she said, placing a hand on his arm. He looked down at her arm and smiled slightly.
"Having said that, we've come a long way this summer, haven't we?" she smiled.
"We have," he felt there was more she wanted to say, but was holding back. He called her on it.
"Ginny?" she sighed. Wondering if she should say what she was thinking. Looking down on the Fair she felt free, like her words wouldn't have their normal consequences.
"I just wish that you weren't going to – well you know. I wish I could come with you,"
"I told you Ginny, it's dang—"
"I know, I know, I just wish you didn't have to go. It's selfish I know, I just wish I could have you with me always is all,"
"Really, why?" he asked before he could stop himself.
"Harry, you and me, I think we help each other. You make me happy, and I think…I think I might make you happy too, and if that's all I can do for you, then I want to be able too, I can't do that if you're off fighting and I'm stuck at home,"
Harry reddened at her words. "You do make me happy, happier than anyone. I wish I could have you by my side during this, but I can't, I just can't. I'm not even thrilled by the fact that Ron and Hermione are coming with me. And you won't be stuck at home; you'll be at Hogwarts again soon,"
"It won't be the same without you, any of you," she said, sniffling.
"Hey, Ginny don't cry, please. Tonight's your night; you deserve to enjoy yourself,"
"Only if I get to enjoy it with you, and if you'll let me," she said, hooking her arm through his and leaning her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulder, choosing to ignore the feeling he was getting that he shouldn't be doing so.
Just for tonight, tonight he could feel like this, tonight he'd let himself feel everything for Ginny that he needed too.
Fin